White Wedding
by stormy.grace
Summary: Dean Winchester and Meredith Mitchell are finally getting married! Secrets are revealed, forgiveness is given, and there's a whole lot of dancin' goin' on. A Crazy Love story.
1. Chapter 1

You're Invited!

Meredith Mitchell

Dean Winchester

request the pleasure of your company to join in the celebration of their wedding day

Sunday 18 November 2018 at 8:00am

Catahoula County Courthouse

110 Main Street

Bristol Ridge, Georgia

followed by a second ceremony and reception at 3:00pm

The Winchester Residence

1 Marshall Drive

Bristol Ridge, Georgia

Please RSVP by 10 February 2016

Review, follow, favorite

Or simply read

White Wedding

 **You have officially been invited to the Winchester wedding. As with all the other stories in this series I'm going to try to post one chapter a day. This was an extremely difficult story to write, and I still have one more chapter to finish. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it in the next couple of days and y'all won't have to wait for it. I know it's been a while since I posted the last chapter of Written, and I thank you for your patience. I'm sure many of you, if not all of you, know that these last almost eight months haven't been easy for me. On that note, I'd like to thank my amazing friends Maria and ArtistKurai for being so wonderful and encouraging/pushing me to continue with my writing, and helping me oh so much with this story and ideas for the future adventures of the growing Winchester family. See y'all tomorrow for Chapter 1! ~SG**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

 _November 16, 2018_

"Mere, hurry up!" Dean called from the living room, where he waited impatiently with his nearly six month old daughter strapped to his chest.

Never in his life had he ever thought he'd be a babywearer, but he had to admit it was a heck of a lot easier than toting her around on his hip or in his arms, or lugging a stroller everywhere. And he couldn't deny that he enjoyed the snuggle time and the way she always laid her head on his chest and dozed off as if nothing could hurt her.

Maddie had once teased him about wearing Kit on a hunt, and he wasn't sure what it said about him that he could easily imagine himself fighting off a ghost or demon with a baby attached to him. That couldn't possibly put him anywhere near the running for father of the year, but even Meredith had been able to picture it when he had told her about it. She had laughed at the idea because she knew he would never even consider it unless he had absolutely no other choice, but it did seem like something that was within the realm of possibility under the right circumstances. Especially since almost everything he had seen in his nearly forty years should be way outside the realm of possibility. So why not carry a baby into battle against a werewolf if he had to?

"Sorry." Meredith said as she finally emerged from the bedroom. "Shelby stole my boot, and I had to chase her under the bed to get it back."

The squirrel that normally had run of the house unless no one was home was currently perched on Meredith's shoulder. As reluctant as he had been to keep her as a pet, Dean was glad Meredith had talked him into it. It was nice having a pet, just one more piece of normality in his ridiculously abnormal life, and like every other female in the house, Shelby adored him. Dean took a moment to revel in the feeling of having a stable family that loved him so much despite all his flaws and past bad decisions.

Then he took a moment to study the woman that had started it all.

His fiance was wearing a navy blue and white sweater decorated with alternating stripes of snowflakes and reindeer silhouettes that somehow looked very classy, a simple pair of dark blue jeans tucked into light brown hiking boots with some kind of attached sweater cuff thing, and a cozy looking garment in black, beige, and crimson. He wasn't sure if it was a poncho, a blanket, a shawl, or just a really big scarf, but he had seen it at the mall the other day when he had taken the kids Christmas shopping, which hadn't been quite as terrible as he had expected, and had known she would love it. He hadn't wanted to wait until Christmas, so he had given it to her as soon as they got home, and she had worn it every time she had left the house since.

Her hair was loose and wavy, tucked behind her ear, and pulled over her shoulder, she wasn't wearing any makeup, and the only pieces of jewelry she wore were the charm bracelet he had given her as a birthday present so many years ago and her engagement ring.

She realized he was staring, and Shelby scurried across her back and over to the other shoulder as she adjusted her wrap. "What?"

Dean simply smiled. "You're beautiful."

Meredith happily returned the smile, and walked over to stand on her toes and kiss his cheek. "Thanks."

Shelby made the jump from Meredith's shoulder to Dean's, and he chuckled as the family headed for the back door. "Do I need to carry you too?" he asked.

Meredith giggled. "I think I can manage a two mile hike on my own, but if you really want to..."

"Nope. I'm good."

She reached for his hand, not even realizing she was doing it because she did it so often, and placed a kiss on Kit's head as they descended the steps of the back deck and headed across the yard toward the path that would take them through the woods and to the barn Dean was so excited to show her.

They were getting married in two days, and Dean had been working on fixing up the barn for about six months. The entire family had pitched in, including Cas, just so Meredith could have the wedding of her dreams that she so undeniably deserved. Kim and Meredith were the only ones that hadn't helped. Kim was pregnant, and Dean wanted to surprised Meredith with the final results even though she knew what was going on and desperately wanted to be a part of it. Sam, Brooke, and Trevor had spent a couple of weekends with them, and had happily helped out, and even Gabriel and Kaylie Archer had hammered in a few nails.

Meredith and Kim hadn't been thrilled at being left out, but Dean had enjoyed every second of the project, and while it wasn't completely finished, a little angel magic would have it looking picture perfect for the wedding.

They had decided to have a small, easy courthouse wedding, but Cas had come up with the brilliant idea of dropping them into some kind of angle-induced alternate reality where all their deceased loved ones could join in on the more traditional festivities after Meredith had made a comment about wishing her father could be there to walk her down the aisle and give her away.

So they were having two ceremonies. A legal one with just their living friends and family in attendance, and a second one just for fun that no one could bring a date to unless they were aware of the supernatural world. Dean wasn't exactly excited about the second ceremony and reception, but he was looking forward to being able to legally introduce Meredith as his wife, and he was definitely excited about getting to see everyone he had lost over the years. It was definitely a cool idea, and he was glad Cas had come up with it. Mostly because Meredith was so excited. Despite the fact that her mother would be there.

But what Dean was most excited about right now was showing her the barn, and he was seriously enjoying this walk through the woods with his family. He was struck once more by how normal his life had become simply because he had decided to take his R&R in a little Georgia farmhouse with the girl that used to live next door.

A thought occurred to him, and because he was with Meredith, he asked the question that he had pondered many times over the years. He wasn't sure if he had ever asked Sam. "You ever wonder what our lives would be like if all the supernatural crap wasn't real?"

Meredith was only mildly surprised by the question. It wasn't something Dean would normally ask if he was with anyone but her, and even though it was just the two of them, Kit, and Shelby, it was still a bit of an odd question for Dean Winchester to ask. She thought he'd moved passed his what ifs. "Sometimes. Do you?"

"Sort of." he admitted. "I have an idea of what might've happened if my mom hadn't been killed. My life at least, but I don't mean just that. I mean no demons, no angels, no Apocalypse, or ghosts, or magic, or any of it."

"I don't think that's a world I'd want to live in." Meredith said honestly.

"I think," Dean said as they walked. "that everything would be completely different. I think my parents would've gotten divorced, Adam probably never would've been born, your family would still be alive, and none of us would've ever left Lawrence. I think we would've grown up next door to each other like everyone thought we would, and none of this would exist."

She started to say that her family would never have moved to Lawrence if supernatural things didn't exist, but then she remembered that Hanna Durant's ghost wasn't what had caused her grandparents to leave Bristol Ridge. Her murder had.

Daniel and Abigail Fairchild had moved to Lawrence because of the rumors, gossip, and looks Abigail got from their neighbors after everything that had happened. Clayton killing Hanna and Aaron Reeves, Hanna's father killing Clayton and then himself. They were the same rumors, gossip, and looks that Meredith had grown up with, the same rumors, gossip, and looks that, coupled with the tragic loss of most of her family, that had driven her into her dark days as a teenager.

Her family hadn't ended up in Lawrence, Kansas because of anything supernatural. Unless her great-grandfather had been possessed by a demon or driven to insanity by some spell the thing that had led to the destruction of her family was completely and utterly human.

"You know what?" she said. "Your alternate reality sounds great, but I wouldn't change a thing."

"Why?" Dean asked. "You'd still have your parents and your brother."

"My dad and Jason may have been killed by a ghost, but supernatural forces aren't what started it." she explained. "My family was torn apart by something that started with humanity. My human ancestor went insane and made the very human choice to kill two innocent people. That's what led to me losing my family, Dean, but I still have a family. A wonderful family that I wouldn't have if it weren't for something supernatural. Whether you want to credit God, Cupid, Yellow Eyes, or Hanna Durant's ghost, this...us...what we have, what we've created here? None of it would exist if the supernatural crap wasn't real."

"You know," he said, pulling his hand from her grasp and draping his arm around her shoulders, "For someone who dreams so much, you sure do think pretty logically."

She slipped her arm around his waist, and smiled. "You can afford to think logically when you're living your dream."

"Now, it's not totally finished." Dean cautioned as they came out of the woods and into the pasture where the barn stood. "Not on the inside, anyway. There's still a little more work that needs to be done, but...Mere?"

He was excited to see her reaction, but she didn't seem to be having one. She was just standing there, staring at the barn with a squirrel perched on top of her head.

"It's beautiful, Dean." she finally said, a smile spreading across her face.

Dean was certainly proud of the work he and the rest of the family had done, and it did look great, but to him it was just a barn. Nothing fancy. Just a wooden building with small rooms for tack, feed, and he supposed an office or some other form of storage in the middle, rows of stalls that still needed new doors on either side, and a hay loft upstairs. There were no horses to live in it, and the land around it needed a lot of work. The fences were rotted and falling apart, the grass was patchy and overgrown, and it just looked like part of an old farm that hadn't been taken care of properly for decades because that's exactly what it was.

All of this land had once belonged to the Marshall family. Meredith's great-grandfather Clayton Marshall, who had gone insane and murdered two people before he was murdered himself, had bred horses when he hadn't been doing whatever church deacons did and having psychotic breaks.

He had grown up on this farm, but not as part of the family that owned it. Walter Marshall had been a farmhand here, and his wife, Ruthie, had been the family's maid. Their son, Clayton, had fallen in love with the boss' only daughter, Vivian Todd.

After Clayton and Vivian had been married, and her parents, Matthew and Eliza, had both died of old age the farm had gone to Vivian. Clayton had married into it. And then Vivian had died giving birth to their only child, Meredith's grandmother Abigail, and Clayton had continued to run the farm with help from his brother Nathaniel, until he had been locked up after killing Aaron and Hanna.

Abigail had turned the farm over to Uncle Nathaniel after her father had been locked up, but had stayed in the house until she had married Daniel Fairchild and moved to Lawrence.

After Nathaniel died the farm had gone to his son, Clark, who had decided to sell it when he realized it was never going to be profitable again. And that's what had brought the Fairchild family back to Bristol Ridge.

After Mary had been killed and John left town with Sam and Dean, Dan had heard that his cousin was planning on selling the family farm. So he had bought it and moved the family to Georgia.

They knew all of this because Meredith and Kim had started digging into their family history, wanting to learn more about who and where they came from. They had been surprised and pleased to find out that Cousin Clark was still alive, and living in Jackson, Mississippi. So, the two sisters had packed their bags, hopped in Meredith's Camaro, and gone to meet the relative they hadn't even known existed, taking care of a routine haunting Garth had caught wind of and passed on to Dean on their way through Montgomery, Alabama. And that was how they'd learned about the history of the farm. It was also how they knew that Clayton Marshall and Hanna Durant had actually had a brief, but very real romantic relationship that had ended not long before Hanna had met Aaron Reeves.

Knowing what he now knew about his in-laws, Dean had no trouble understanding why this barn was so special to Meredith, and even though it didn't mean much to him the fact that she was pleased with the way the project was turning out meant a great deal to him. And he had no doubt that the restoration of the barn was sort of a symbolic restoration of the family name for her.

"You know," he said as he watched her study the outside of the restored building from afar, "It's kind of a shame to fix up the barn, and leave the rest of the place looking like a ghost town." If fixing up a barn could wash off a little tarnish, what would fixing up the entire farm and turning it into something good do?

The suggestion in his voice had Meredith turning around to look at him, surprise and excitement evident on her face. "You want to fix up the rest of it?"

Dean shrugged. "Why not? What's the point in having all this land if we're not gonna do anything with it?"

"And what would we do with it?"

"I'm sure we can figure something out." Dean said. "But for starters, we could get a couple of horses to put in that barn."

Her face lit up with excitement for a moment and then clouded. "We can't afford horses."

"We can figure something out."

"You really think so?"

He nodded. "We can try at least."

The smile returned to her face, and she might have thrown herself into his arms for a hug if it weren't for Kit. Instead she simply said, "I love you."

Dean smiled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Come on. Let's go check out the inside, and dream a little."

%%%

"I am _so_ not ready for this." Meredith grumbled after dinner.

Everyone was back in their own homes or rooms, and Kit was tucked in for the night. Shelby was back in her cage, and Meredith's suddenly cloudy mood had Dean worried.

"The wedding?" he asked cautiously, hoping it was something else. She had been excited about the wedding an hour ago.

"No." she said, shaking her head and gesturing to the photograph in her hand. "Seeing my mother."

Dean was relieved, but not surprised. He had nothing but good memories of her mother, but then again, he had only know Sharon Fairchild for four years. Meredith knew a lot more of the story from personal experience, and based on what he had learned since making Bristol Ridge his home Sharon Fairchild had _not_ been the Aunt Shari he had known when she died.

He moved to sit beside his soon-to-be-wife, and looked at the picture in her hand. It showed Meredith at about four years old, smiling so hard at the camera that her eyes were squeezed shut, and sitting on a couch pressed against a very pregnant Sharon. But Meredith hadn't even been two yet when Kim had been born in January of 1983. He'd seen pictures of Meredith and Jason with their newborn sister, and this version of her was older by a couple of years. He was clearly missing a piece of the puzzle.

"I didn't know Aunt Shari had another baby after Kim." he said, confused. "What happened?"

Meredith swallowed the lump in her throat and sighed. "Mama got pregnant again around Kim's second birthday. Twins. This picture was taken about a month before they were born."

Dean wanted to know what happened to the babies, but he knew this was a difficult subject for Meredith for more than one reason and he didn't push her. He simply put his arm around her and waited for her to continue.

Meredith swallowed again, fighting back tears, and finally finished her short story. "They didn't make it. They died."

He pulled her close and held her tight, amazed that she wasn't crying.

"And then two years later Daddy died, and we might as well have lost both parents." Meredith continued. "I know that wasn't easy on her, and I'm sure she was still hurting from losing those babies, but she had three other kids that needed her, and she just abandoned us. She was there physically, but she wasn't there at all. She was depressed all the time and either drunk or hung over, and she didn't want anything to do with us. We tried for a long time to get her to pay attention to us, to take care of us, but we finally gave up. I don't even know why she was picking me and Melissa up from that movie. I don't remember that day. I blacked it out, or there was brain damage that erased it. I'm not sure, but all I know is what I was told."

Now she was crying. He'd known the tears would come. They always did. He didn't think he'd ever met a woman that cried as much as Meredith, but it didn't bother him at all anymore. She cried when she was happy, she cried when she was angry, she cried when she was upset, when she was hurt, when she was scared. He was used to it now, and the only thing that bothered him about it was that a lot of the time it meant she was hurting. Like now. These were not happy tears. These were tears of grief and anger and confusion, and there was nothing he could do to make it any better except let her cry. So he did.

"She doesn't have to be there." Dean said when she had stopped crying and was just snuggling. "I can talk to Cas, make an adjustment to the guest list."

"No." Meredith said, wiping her face as she sat up. "She's my mother. She should be there. Besides, I have some questions."

"Hey, wait a minute." he said, alarm bells going off in his head as she got up to go wash her face. "Come back here." She didn't, so he followed her to the bathroom. "Hey. This is supposed to be a happy event, a celebration. It's dangerous enough that Sam, my dad, and my grandfather are all gonna be in the same room. I don't want you picking a fight with your mom at our wedding reception."

Meredith washed her face with a warm, wet washcloth and then turned to look up at him, her eyes puffy and red from crying. "I'm not gonna pick a fight with her. I just want to know why."

"Can't that wait until another time though?" he asked. "I'm sure Cas or Gabriel would be happy to arrange it."

"I'm not politely chatting about the weather with my dead mother, Dean." Meredith argued. "And I guarantee you Kim feels the same way. She and Jake are probably having this exact discussion across the street right now. I promise you I'll do my best to stay civil, but you know I suck at small talk. Especially when there's a giant pink elephant in the room."

"Alright." Dean said, holding up his hands in defeat. "Alright. You win."

Meredith suddenly deflated and leaned against the counter, covering her face with her hands for a moment, and then pushing her hair back away from her face. "I don't want to fight with her. I just don't understand. I know it was hard. I know it sucked. But why couldn't she fight for us?"

"Don't cry anymore." Dean begged gently because he knew how much it annoyed her, pulling her into a comforting hug.

"I'm sorry." she said as the waterworks started up again, her voice muffled by his t-shirt. "I'm so sick of crying."

"It's okay." he assured her. "I hear it's healthy to cry. I just don't like to see you hurting when there's nothing I can do to fix it."

She wrapped her arms around him and pressed closer. "Just be here."

"I'm always here." he said softly. "And I'm always wet."

Meredith giggled because she couldn't help it, and looked up at him. "How are you not totally over my crying? You're the last person I ever would've expected to be so...not freaked out by a compulsive crier. But you're not. You do realize this isn't going to go away after we're married, right?"

Dean smiled. "I don't want you to change."

"Good. I don't plan to."

"Good." he leaned down to kiss her, and frowned when she pushed him away. "That's hurts."

"I'm all snotty."

"Kit threw up in my mouth today. I think I can handle a little wife snot."

She laughed at the memory. "I thought _you_ were gonna throw up for a second."

"That was just gross." Dean said, shuddering visibly at the memory. "Absolutely disgusting. I'd rather change a poop diaper than have to relive that experience."

"No, you wouldn't. I've seen you try to change a poop diaper. It's never gonna happen."

"Yeah, and you've never had a baby throw up in your mouth."

"Kit's not the first baby I've dealt with." she reminded him. "Maddie projectile vomited all over me when she was seven. In my mouth, on my face, my clothes. It was disgusting."

"I'm so sorry." Dean said sincerely.

Meredith smiled, and took the wash cloth he handed her to wipe her face off yet again. "Never shake a recently fed child. Or put them on a spinning ride. Both very bad ideas."

"Noted." He pulled her in for another hug. "So, are you okay now?"

She nodded as she hugged back, and let out a deep, contented sigh. "Yeah. For now."

"Good. Because I think we're running low on tissues. Ow! Don't kick me!"

"Hush." She said. "You'll wake the baby."

"Me? _I'm_ gonna wake the baby?" he grabbed her playfully and pulled her back as she started to walk away, tickling her as he did and making her squeal. "You're the one screaming."

Meredith laughed, and leaned back against him as he wrapped his arms around her. "You're mean."

Dean dropped a kiss on top of her head. "I love you too."

She turned around, and stood on her toes to kiss him, smiling when she pulled away and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I can't wait to marry you in two days."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the floor. She laughed and wrapped her legs around his waist so they wouldn't get tangled up and fall as he carried her to their bed and dumped her on the mattress.

Once she was situated all cozy and comfortable under the covers he laid down beside her and kissed her goodnight.

"Goodnight, my love." she said as she closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

No matter what happened with her mother on Sunday everything was going to be okay because she had Dean.

 **Yes, we will be delving into the Fairchild family tree some. In this story, and in future stories. When I wrote this it was just because I love Mere so much and I wanted to know a little more about their family and their history. But now, thanks to one little conversation that ended in a completely different place than it started, I have some interesting plans for Miss Meredith. And don't worry, the wedding festivities will start tomorrow, and while I didn't get to fit in everyone I wanted to I did get some really good moments worked in that I think y'all are going to enjoy. I love you guys! ~SG**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

 _November 18, 2018_

"You okay, Dean?" Sam asked as he watched his brother struggle with his tie.

Dean, Sam, and Cas were holed up in the guest room Sam and Trevor were sharing while the women were getting ready downstairs, and Brooke was getting herself ready, helping Trevor, and watching Kit in the room across the hall. Sam had just finished helping Cas put his tie on correctly, and now he was wondering if he was going to have to help Dean with his too.

"I'm fine." Dean said. His hands were shaking. "I'm just, you know...I'm nervous, okay? And excited. And I think I might be sick. I felt fine last night, but now..."

"I'm sure it's just the nerves and excitement." Sam said calmly, smiling softly at his brother. He'd never seen this side of Dean before. It was refreshing to know that his brother could be something other than annoyingly confident. "You are getting _married_ after all."

"I can help with the nausea." Cas volunteered.

Dean shrugged it off. "Thanks, Cas, but I'm sure I'll be fine. Sam's right. It's just nerves."

Cas sighed in slight annoyance and grabbed Dean, placing two fingers against his friend's forehead to rid him of the nausea he was feeling no matter what was causing it. "You're getting married, Dean. Today is not a day you want to be sick. I've never experienced it before, but I'm pretty sure you can still vomit even if it's just nerves. Do you really want that to happen on your wedding day? Possibly while Meredith is standing right in front of you?"

Dean had a mental image of himself throwing up all over Meredith as they were saying their vows, and cringed. "Good point."

"You really need to learn how to let others take care of you, Dean." Cas said, the annoyance fading from his voice but still clearly there. "You're obviously doing better with that because Meredith doesn't give you a choice, but you've still got a long way to go, my friend."

"Cas." Dean said dryly, still fumbling with his tie. "It's my wedding day. I'm about to get married. Twice. You wanna lay off the lectures for a little while?"

Cas simply rolled his eyes.

Sam smiled at the angel's reaction, but only because Dean hadn't seen it and couldn't see Sam's smile. "Do you want some help with that?" he asked his brother as someone knocked on the door.

"No." Dean said as Cas went to answer the door, finding Brooke. "I'll get it, Sammy. Just give me a minute."

"How's in goin' in here?" Brooke asked, smiling as she watched Sam try to wrestle the tie that was still around Dean's neck away from his brother.

"Dean's being stubborn." Cas informed her blandly. "But I think we're almost ready."

"Dean, would you just let me help you?" Sam practically begged. "It'll be so much easier."

Dean knocked Sam's interfering hands away. "Back off, Sammy. I know how to tie a tie. I've done it plenty of time in the past. Without your help."

"Yeah, and without your hands shaking." Sam pointed out.

Cas rolled his eyes and sighed.

Brooke laughed and skirted around the angel to get to the Winchesters. She gently nudged Sam out of the way, and held out her hand for the tie. "Come on. Hand it over."

"I got it." Dean said.

"Dean, I have a ten year old son." Brooke said. "You may be bigger than he is, but I promise you you're not gonna win this fight. Hand over the tie or the girls are gonna be waiting on you."

Dean considered arguing with her, but finally just sighed and gave in, handing her the tie and allowing her to put it on him.

"It's a miracle." Cas said.

Sam laughed.

"Shut up." Dean barked. "Both of you."

"Hey." Brooke said, purposefully pulling the tie a little tighter than necessary to get his attention. "Knock it off."

"Sam." Dean gasped and loosened his tie when Brooke released him. "Your girlfriend's trying to strangle me."

"Good." Sam said, not bothering to correct his brother on his relationship status. He and Brooke were not actually together. "Sometimes you need strangling."

"Not on my wedding day." Dean argued. "Not on any day, but especially not on my wedding day."

"It wasn't even that tight, you big baby." Brooke said. "I'm gonna go see if everyone else is ready."

"Sam, m—"

"Don't"

"What?" Dean asked innocently.

"Don't." Sam repeated.

Dean turned to face his brother. "Don't what, Sam?"

"I know what you're gonna say, Dean." Sam said. "Don't."

"You don't know what I'm gonna say."

"Marry that girl." Sam said, his face and voice emotionless.

Dean shrugged. "Okay. So, maybe you do. So what? God said it. Why can't I?"

Sam made a face.

"Don't give me the bitchface, Sammy." Dean said. "You and Brooke—"

"Are in a really weird situation, and we're taking it slow." Sam finished, knowing it's not what his brother was going to say. "It's also none of your business."

"Alright, alright." Dean said, backing off. "Calm down. It's dropped, okay? Can we go back to being nervous and excited about the wedding now?"

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

Cas was glad he didn't have to break up a fight. "If you two can behave long enough to get to the courthouse without hitting each other I'll meet you there."

Dean waved him on. "Go on. We're fine."

"Dean?" Cas said before leaving.

"Yeah, Cas?"

"I'm happy for you." Cas said earnestly. "If anyone deserves to be happy and have their dreams come true, its you."

"Gee, thanks." Sam said.

"You deserve it too, Sam." Cas said. "But you're not there yet, are you?"

Sam smiled and looked at his brother. "He's right, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Dean said. "Of course I know I deserve to be happy. I've dealt with enough crap in the last thirty-nine years. I think I've earned a little happiness. Now if I can just hold onto it for a little while."

"You will." Cas assured him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Longer than a little while, my friend."

A small smile flitted across Dean's face before Cas disappeared. "You think he's right?" he asked his brother.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. I think if anyone can make it happen, you can."

%%%

"Knock knock." Brooke said as she knocked lightly on Dean and Meredith's bedroom door and poked her head inside. "Can we come in?"

"Of course." Meredith said, welcoming her probable future sister-in-law into the room where she, Kim, Alex, and Claire were all getting ready for the courthouse wedding.

Brooke came into the room with Kit on her hip, having relieved her son of temporary babysitting duty. "The guys are just about ready. How we doin' in here?"

Meredith fastened an earring and there was a hiss of hairspray as Kim put finishing touches on Alex and Claire.

"I think we're pretty much ready." Meredith said, poking the other earring through the tiny hole in her lobe.

"You look beautiful." Brooke said, taking in Meredith's long sleeved lace dress that stopped a few inches shy of her knees, the wide, light brown belt around her waist, and the matching ankle boots on her feet whose stiletto heels would make it easier for her to kiss her husband along with making her legs look great.

Meredith smiled her thanks. "I'm so nervous."

"Why are you nervous?" Claire asked.

"I don't know. Maybe because I'm getting married?" Meredith shot back.

"Yeah, but you're getting married to _Dean_." Claire said. "What's there to be nervous about? Other than maybe having the King of Hell crash the wedding."

"That, and a million other things." Meredith said. "Trust me, Clairy. If you ever get married you'll be just as nervous as I am. Even if you've been married before."

Claire shut her mouth and shrugged when Meredith shot down her next comment before she could even make it. "Don't call me Clairy."

Meredith stuck her tongue out. "Clairy."

Kim walked over and hugged her sister. "Everything'll be fine, Mere."

"Are you forgetting that we have to see our mother later?" Meredith asked.

Kim cringed. "Well...there'll be alcohol at the wedding, but Cas said he talked to her and she agreed not to get drunk and ruin the reception."

"Yeah, but we can still get angry and ruin the reception."

"That won't happen." Kim said as her baby moved inside her. "We won't _let_ that happen. Right?"

Kim still had her caught in a loose hug, so Meredith felt the movement too and was cheered up by her unborn nephew. "Right."

Kim placed a hand on her belly as the baby continued to dance around. "I doubt Crowley'll show up. He wasn't invited, and there's no way he could possibly think it would be a good idea to ruin Dean's wedding. He can't possibly be that stupid."

"I think the worst thing that we might have to worry about would be one of the kids making a mess or Liam deciding to show up early." Kim said.

Meredith looked down at her sister's belly, and pointed an admonishing finger at it. "If you even _think_ about showing up three months early you're in so much trouble, mister."

"What are you gonna do?" Alex asked, chuckling. "Spank him for ruining the wedding while he's in an incubator in the NICU?"

"I'll spank him when he comes home." she corrected, obviously teasing. She certainly wasn't going to spank her newborn nephew. "And the wedding has nothing to do with it. I want my nephew to be born healthy and fully developed."

"I second that desire." Kim said. She looked down at her belly. "You here that? You listen to your Aunt Mere or you'll get a spanking from both of us when you get home."

There was another knock at the door, and Trevor popped in. "Are you guys ready yet?"

The women all laughed and Meredith nodded. "Yeah. We're ready."

"Then let's go!"

Trevor dashed out of the room, and Brooke laughed at her son. "He's so excited!"

"Obviously." Meredith said. "I'm surprised he's not dragging us out."

"We'd better get going or he might." Brooke warned as Kim grabbed her shoes and they all filed out of the room.

%%%

"Wow." Dean said when he saw his bride, a smile stretching across his face. "You look great."

"Gee thanks, Dean." the other four women chorused.

"Oh stop." Dead said in response. "You _all_ look great."

"Come on." Sam said, moving to herd the women and Trevor out the door. "Let's give the happy couple a few minutes."

Brooke passed Kit to Meredith and gave her new friend a hug. "It's gonna be fine." she whispered in her ear.

Meredith smiled as Brooke followed the others out of the house.

"She's right, you know." Dean said after everyone else was gone and they were alone with Kit.

"I have a right to be nervous on my wedding day."

"Well, yeah." Dean said. "So do I. And I am, but you're not just nervous about the wedding. You're nervous about the marriage. If you wanna back out there's still time. We can call it off."

Meredith shook her head. "No. I don't want to call anything off, Dean. I love you, and I want to marry you. It's just that even with the whole soulmate thing...this isn't exactly easy for me."

"I know." Dean said softly, moving closer to her. "Now, don't start crying on me. You'll just have to redo your makeup, and we'll be late for our own wedding."

Meredith smiled and laughed, adjusting Kit. "I'm not gonna cry. I don't think. Not right now anyway."

Dean put his arms around her and pulled her to him, careful not to squish Kit. He kissed her forehead. "I know this isn't easy for you, Mere. It's not all that easy for me either if we're being completely honest here. There's still a part of me that thinks you'd be safer without me. I struggle with it every day. But as much as that little part of me wants to leave, the rest of me wants to stay even more."

"To keep us safe." she said.

"Partly." he agreed. "But you don't really need me to keep you safe anymore."

"Of course I do."

"Not as much as you used to." he said. "You all know how to protect yourselves, and with the exception of Dylan, I don't think anyone's gonna run off and start hunting full-time. I could leave right now, and you'd all be fine."

Meredith shook her head. "No we wouldn't."

"Maybe not emotionally, but..."

"So, why don't you?" she asked. "If it's such a struggle for you to stay, and you know we'd be okay without you, why don't you leave?"

"Because I wouldn't be okay without you." he said, smiling softly. "And it's really not _that_ much of a struggle to stay. If I truly thought any of us would be better off if I wasn't here I would leave, but me leaving would only make us both miserable and you know it's literally impossible for me to abandon my family. So, suck it up and let's go get married. We're not gonna screw this up."

Meredith laughed and leaned her head against his shoulder. She stayed that way for a long moment and then looked back up at him. "You're amazing. You know that?"

"It's been mentioned a few times."

She laughed again and gave him a gentle push toward to door. "Come on. Let's go before someone needs a diaper change."

"Let's go get hitched!" Dean said, rubbing his hands together excitedly as he followed his girls out of the house.

He paused at the door and took a moment to do something he never did. "I don't know where you are or what your deal is, and I'm obviously not your biggest fan, but thanks."

He didn't think Meredith had heard his little prayer, but she had. She smiled as she pretended she hadn't heard and strapped Kit into her car seat, and then climbed into the truck. She glanced up for a moment and added a quick thanks of her own before Dean climbed in and they were backing out of the yard.

 **This is where I usually try to put in some cute little remarks or something, but I just sat here for about ten minutes trying to come up with something and it's not happening this morning. So, I guess I'll just skip ahead to thank you for the follows, reviews, etc, and I hope y'all are enjoying the festivities! Or soon-to-be festivities. ~SG**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

The wedding wasn't fancy, but then again, neither were the Winchesters. Or anyone else that was in attendance. Dean and Meredith exchanged vows in a courtroom in front of a judge and their living friends and family. They recited traditional vows, nothing flowery, repeating after the judge, exchanged rings, and kissed when the judge proclaimed them husband and wife. The whole thing went by a lot faster than Dean thought it would, but he was certain he would never forget a second of it.

He was happy as he walked out of the courthouse with his wife and their guests. He looked around to see if he could find his daughter, knowing she had been passed around, and discovered she was with Mrs. Tran. He hadn't thought Kevin's mom would come, but he was glad she had, and he wanted to go talk to her, but someone else caught his eye.

This guest hadn't been invited, and she was definitely a surprise, but not necessarily a bad one. She was standing with Garth and his family, and Sam had spotted her at the same time. Sam left Brooke and Trevor and made a beeline for the familiar young woman at the same time Dean did. Meredith followed in his wake. She had noticed his surprised reaction and was curious about the girl that had caused it.

"Kate?" Dean said when the three Winchesters reached the small group of werewolves at the same time.

"Hi guys." she said, smiling happily at Sam and Dean.

"Not that it's not nice to see you, but what are you doing here?" Dean asked, thrown off by her unexpected presence.

"Kate's with us." Garth informed him.

Dean glanced at Bess, holding a one year old version of herself, and then back at Kate. His gaze shifted back to Garth. "So, what, you got some kind of weird werewolf sister wife thing going on now?"

"Dean." Sam chided.

"What?" Dean asked. "It's a legitimate question."

"It's a rude question." Sam said.

"Well, you gotta admit they aren't a normal family." Dean said. "Or a normal pack."

Sam looked to Meredith for help, but she just held up her hands and took a step back, indicating that she wasn't getting involved.

"It's okay, Sam." Bess said sweetly. "We know Dean doesn't mean to be offensive. He just doesn't fully understand our family yet. And that's okay."

"Kate's not my wife, Dean." Garth assured him and put his arm around Bess, beaming at her. "Bess is the only girl for me."

Sam spotted the silver bullet hanging around Kate's neck. "But you _are_ part of the pack?"

Kate's hand went to her necklace, absentmindedly playing with the bullet. The contact with the silver didn't seem to bother her too much. She nodded. "Yeah. I hit a rough patch a little while back, and Garth and Bess...well...they saved me."

"What kind of rough patch?" Dean asked.

Garth answered because he knew it would bother both Dean and Sam until they knew what had happened. "Sam, you remember that crazy cult pack we took down? In California?"

"Yeah." he looked at Kate. "You were part of that?"

"Not willingly." Kate said quickly. "A lot of their members were recruited by force. I didn't want any part of it, but they basically held me prisoner. I tried to escape, but they caught me."

"They made their prisoners eat human hearts." Garth explained. "Tied 'em up, and forced 'em to eat."

Dean didn't even realize he had tucked Meredith behind him in a subconscious effort to protect her in case Kate attacked. But everyone else did.

"It's okay, Dean." Kate said. "I'm okay. I didn't want to eat the hearts. They made me. They tortured me until I gave in, and after...Garth didn't want to kill me because it wasn't my fault and I had never actually hurt anyone. I begged him to, but he wouldn't do it."

"I had faith in her." Garth said. "But she didn't think she could stay in control, so I talked to Bess, and we decided to take her in."

"She's doing great." Bess said, smiling at the other blonde wolf.

"No slip ups?" Dean asked, looking at Kate.

"One." she admitted. "During the my first full moon after Garth and Bess took me in. I lost control and I did attack someone, but Garth found me and pulled me back before I could really hurt him."

"She's okay." Garth assured Dean, who looked a little skeptical. "She's not gonna hurt anyone. If she does I'll take care of it."

Dean relaxed a little, but only because he trusted Garth to do the right thing if the time came. He took his attention off Kate, and nodded at the kid. "And what about this little guy? What do baby werewolves...uh...lycanthropes eat?"

"Actually," Garth said. "Little Man here was born human."

Sam looked confused. "If you're both werewolves, how was your son born human?"

"We're not entirely sure how it works, but we think lycanthropy might be a recessive trait." Garth replied.

"Alright." Dean said, shrugging. "Well, as long as no one's ripping hearts out I'm cool with it."

"Now that that's all out of the way," Bess said, smiling at Meredith. "I don't believe we've been introduced to your lovely wife yet, Dean."

"Oh!" he said, having completely forgotten that Meredith hadn't officially met Garth and his family yet. He pulled her forward, draping his arm around her shoulders, and grinned proudly. "This is Meredith Winchester. My wife. Mere, this is Garth and Bess Fitzgerald, and Kate...something or other. I have no idea what your last name is."

Kate smiled. "Sheridan."

"Sheridan." Dean said. "This is Kate Sheridan."

"And this," Garth said, taking the baby from Bess and matching Dean proud smile for proud smile. "Is Garth Fitzgerald, the Fifth."

"We call him Fitz." Bess said.

"Fitz Fitzgerald." Sam said, smiling. "Cute. He looks just like you, Bess."

Suddenly Fitz started crying.

"I think someone needs a diaper change." Kate said. "I'll take care of it."

Garth handed the child to the young werewolf. "Go on with Aunt Katie, Little Man."

Meredith smiled. "Kit could probably use a diaper change too. Where is she?"

Dean looked around. "Last I saw her she was with Mrs. Tran."

As if on cue Alex came over with Kit, having taken the fussy baby from Mrs. Tran. "Where's the diaper bag?"

"I got it." Meredith said, gesturing to the bag at her feet. She picked it up, took her daughter, and followed Kate back into the building so they could find a bathroom to change the babies in.

"I know we just met, but can I ask you something?" Kate asked as they stepped into the bathroom.

"Sure." Meredith said.

"I know you're not a single mother, but Garth said your sister was." Kate said. "Is it hard? To be a single mother?"

Meredith paused in the process of changing Kit's wet diaper and looked at Kate in mild surprise. "Are you pregnant?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah. Garth and Bess don't know. I haven't told them yet."

Meredith went back to work when Kit started fussing. "Does the father know?"

"Yeah." Kate said. "My boyfriend... _ex_ -boyfriend...he doesn't know what I am, but I told him about the baby when I found out, and..."

"He freaked out?"

"He dumped me."

"I'm sorry." Meredith said sincerely. "My niece's father managed to stick around for about a year before he split. Luckily my sister wasn't completely alone. She had me, but it still wasn't easy. Have you decided if you're going to keep it yet?"

Kate finished changing Fitz' diaper and shook her head. She looked up and met Meredith's gaze. "I don't know what to do, Mrs. Winchester. It's not so much the single mom thing, but what if it's born a werewolf? Garth and Bess are both wolves, and Fitz is human. My ex is human, and I was only bitten, but what if my baby's a werewolf? I don't know if I want to keep the baby even if it's human, but I can't put a werewolf up for adoption."

"There is a third option." Meredith said, snuggling Kit against her shoulder.

"Oh, no, I could never do that." Kate said. "At least I don't think I could. Have you?"

"No. But I did seriously consider it when I found out I was pregnant with Kit." Meredith said. "My mother had a pair of twins that didn't survive, and I had a miscarriage and a baby that was stillborn. I wanted Kit, and I knew Dean would, but I was so scared we would lose her."

"But you didn't." Kate observed.

"She came about a month early, but she was fine." Meredith confirmed. "Nothing bad happened."

"Do you think mine'll be okay?"

Meredith shifted Kit as Kate picked up Fitz. "I can't really answer that, but I'm sure you'll make the best decision for you."

"I don't think I can do it on my own."

"Talk to Garth and Bess." Meredith said. "I'm sure they'll be more than willing to help you figure it out and support you in whatever you decide."

"I'll probably keep it." Kate said. "I'm just scared. _Really_ scared."

Meredith smiled softly. "There's nothing wrong with being scared, Kate." She put her arm around the younger woman and gave her a hug. "You'll be fine. You've got Garth and Bess to help you with whatever you decide to do, and you've got us too."

"You and Dean?"

Meredith nodded. "Yep. And Kim and Jake, and Travis and Shelly. If you need to, or if you want to, you can always come out here, and we'll make sure you're taken care of. Just don't wolf out on us."

Kate chuckled, smiling. "It's not easy, but I'm getting pretty good at keeping it under control. If I keep the baby I guess I'll have even more reason to stay in control."

"You'll be fine." Meredith reassured. "Come on. I've got to go get married again."

"Thanks, Mrs. Winchester." Kate said.

"As much as I love that, you can call me Meredith."

"Thanks, Meredith."

Meredith smiled. "You're welcome, Kate."

%%%

"You did what?" Dean demanded as he drove back to the house.

"You said you were okay with it." Meredith reminded him. She had just told him about her conversation with Kate, and he was reacting exactly how she had expected him to. Badly.

"I'm okay with her living with Garth and Bess." Dean said. "Not us. Did you seriously invite her to come stay with us?"

"I thought she was your friend."

"I've only met her once, Mere." he said. "I don't know her."

"I thought you'd met her twice."

"The first time we only saw the movie she put together before she skipped town to explain to us that she didn't chose to become a werewolf." Dean explained. "We didn't actually meet her until _after_ she turned her sister and the sister started killing people."

"And you trusted her enough to let her go both times." Meredith reminded him. "She's never hurt anyone, Dean."

"Yeah, except the guy she attacked."

"She only attacked him because of what that cult did to her."

"I get that she didn't chose to eat the hearts, but she did." he said. "And now that she's got the taste it's only a matter of time before she loses control and kills someone."

"Would you be saying the same thing if it was Sam?" she asked. "Or me? Would you keep me away from my own child just because I _might_ loose control?"

"Yes." he said firmly. "If I thought there was any chance you might hurt her I'd do everything in my power to keep her safe."

"Would you kill me?"

Dean looked over at her. There were tears in her eyes. "You're not a monster, so it doesn't matter."

"Answer the question, Dean." she demanded, almost shouting at him. "If you thought there was a chance I might hurt Kit would you kill me?"

He focused his attention back on the road and answered honestly. "Yes. If I had no other choice I'd kill you to keep our family safe. But _only_ if there was no way around it. And I wouldn't do it if I thought you _might_ hurt her. Only if I knew you _would_. But we're never gonna have to worry about that so why are we talking about it?"

"Because it's important, Dean." she said. "I could get bitten by a werewolf or a skinwalker, or turned into a vampire. Someone could put a hex on me. Or you."

"Would you kill me?" he asked curiously.

"If I absolutely had to, and even then I'd probably have to call Sam or have Jake do it because I don't think I could."

"You took out that ghost in Montgomery with no problem."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "I had Claire and Krissy with me, and that was a ghost, Dean, not my husband."

"Okay, well, if something happens to me you need to be prepared to take care of it."

"I am." she said. "I just don't think I could do it myself. You've got way more experience with this stuff than I do."

"Just so long as we're on the same page here." he said. "If either one of us goes too far off the deep end for whatever reason and it can't be fixed...we have to take care of it."

"That goes for Kit too."

"What?"

"I mean it, Dean. It kills me to even think it, but you know I'm right." she said. "Something could happen to her just as easily if not easier than it could happen to us. If it can't be fixed or lived with..."

"We take care of it."

It was a reasonable plan, but he wasn't sure he could go through with it if he had to. He hadn't been able to kill Emma once he knew she was his even though he was aware that she was trying to kill him. He hadn't even known Emma. How could he possibly kill Kit? Or Meredith. Or anyone else he loved.

"So, back to Kate." he said, redirecting the conversation. "I guess, if she needs to, I'm okay with her coming out here as long as she can stay in control."

"Good." Meredith reached out and brushed her fingers through his hair just because. "Now, no more fighting today. It's supposed to be a happy day, and we've still got to deal with my mom and your dad, so..."

"So, no more fighting." Dean caught her hand and kissed it before letting go as they pulled into the driveway. He got out of the truck and walked around to help her out, giving her a long kiss before he let her go. "I'll see you in a little bit."

She made sure he had Kit safely out of the truck before she went inside to change for the second ceremony, thinking that she couldn't possibly be any happier than she was right now. She had a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter.

She paused just inside the bedroom and laid her hand on her belly that wouldn't be flat for much longer. She had everything she had ever dreamed of, and now she had another baby on the way.

 **Would you look at that? Dean Winchester is officially off the market! Sorry ladies. And Mere wants to take in all the strays. Good luck with that, Dean. Until tomorrow, my loves. ~SG**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

The second ceremony, taking place in what Dean called the angel-verse, was going to be a little less casual than the first one had been. It was also going to be much more traditional, with a proper procession, music, Gabriel as the officiant, and a proper reception afterward. The reception would include most, if not all, of the usual wedding reception fare, and Dean wasn't so sure how he felt about all of that. Actually, he felt a little uncomfortable with all of it. He wasn't one for dancing in public, or having speeches made about him, or having all the attention on him, and he certainly wasn't looking forward to the whole removal of the garter thing. Reaching up his wife's skirt to slip a garter off her leg in the privacy of their own bedroom, or anywhere really as long as it was private, was one thing. But there would be an audience. Their parents would be watching.

He shuddered as he thought about it as he stood waiting outside the tent that had been set up in the pasture. Their guests were all in the barn, and Dean wasn't allowed to see his bride before she walked down the aisle. He knew she'd changed, but it seemed a little silly to be so secretive about the dress when he'd not only seen her already, but _married_ her already just a couple of hours ago. Not to mention the fact that she hadn't been wearing anything when their alarm clock had gone off this morning. He didn't understand it all, but if this was the kind of wedding Meredith wanted then he was going to do his best to enjoy it for her sake.

Inside the tent, that had apparently been sound-proofed because Dean couldn't hear anything, Meredith looked beautiful in a full length gown made of white lace over a beige mini dress. The skirt had ruffles and she wore a cropped white leather jacket to guard against the November chill because the dress only had thin straps instead of sleeves. Her hair was woven into a pretty, but complicated looking updo and a pair of gold and white earrings dangled from her ears, the same ones she had worn earlier. She had taken off her wedding band and entrusted it to her nephew, and the charm bracelet she hardly ever took off jingled lightly on her wrist.

Her matron of honor, sister, and best friend wore an olive green gown with fluttering sleeves that made it look like she was wearing a cape and a high turtle neck collar. It was obviously inspired by the sixties, and the color suited her perfectly, bringing out her green eyes.

Claire and Alex were dressed in gold, wearing twin gowns and sequined jackets against the cold, and had their hair curled and pinned back on one side like Kim's. They looked a little like goddesses.

Meredith's gown was probably the only one that truly looked like it belonged at a wedding held in a barn, but somehow the other three looked like they fit perfectly with the setting, and the four of them certainly meshed well together as friends and sisters.

All of these observations were running through Cas' head as he watched the wedding party mingle for a little while before the ceremony started. It was a shame Dean couldn't be here to see Kim and Meredith's glowing, happy faces as they greeted their father with hugs and kisses and a few tears.

Cas listened as Dan Fairchild told his daughters how beautiful they were and how proud of them he was. Meredith spoke for both of them when she tearfully told him how much they'd missed him.

Dan spoke to Sam briefly, and then Cas watched the girls interacting with Lucy Jackson, Jake's former mother-in-law who had stepped in to play mother to Meredith and Kim just like Bobby had filled the role of father for Dean and Sam. He noticed that while this was going on Dan stepped outside to speak to Dean.

"Uncle Danny." Dean said when the other man emerged from the tent. He always thought of his father-in-law as being older simply because he should be, but Dan had only been twenty-nine when Hanna had killed him. Dean was actually the older man in this situation. By ten years.

"I hear you've made my daughter a very happy woman." Dan said.

Dean smiled. "Well, she's made me a _very_ happy man. I figure the least I can do is return the favor. She's an amazing woman, and she's pretty easy to please most of the time, so it's really not a hard job."

"She had a rough time after her mother died, didn't she?" Dan asked.

"They both did." Dean said. "They still do now and then. Mere cries. A lot. Over everything. And I mean _everything_. I'm not real sure how Kim handles it. You'd have to ask her or Jake, but Mere's doin' pretty good. I think partly because of me, but mostly just because she's strong."

"What happened?" Dan asked. Cas had filled him in on everything he knew, but Cas didn't know anything about what Meredith and Kim called The Dark Years. He only knew they existed. "Your angel friend couldn't tell us much about what happened with the girls before you came into their lives."

"Uh, well, I don't really know all the details." Dean admitted. "I don't know most of the details actually. They don't like to talk about it much. I just know they had a real rough time after Aunt Shari died, and it just got worse after Jason. Mere pulled it together for Kim, but it wasn't easy for her. Lucy helped. A lot."

"Lucy?"

"Lucy Jackson." Dean clarified. "Jake's first wife's mom."

"Meredith and Carrie were good friends when they were kids."

"They stayed good friends until Carrie died."

"Is she here?"

"No. Uh, Mere wanted her here, but Jake and Dylan...they weren't quite ready for that."

"But they were okay with Lucy?" Dan asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Carrie died in a terror attack. She was a nurse at a hospital on the base, and some anti-military nut job decided to blow it up. Lucy had a heart attack a few years ago."

"And Meredith wanted her here instead of her mother."

"From what I understand Lucy stepped in after Aunt Shari died." Dean explained. "There was some foster care, and I'm not really sure how the whole thing worked out, but Mere and Kim were pretty close to her. Especially after what happened with Aunt Shari."

"I understand why they feel the way they do." Dan said. "I don't blame them after what Shari told me, but there are things they don't know."

Dean nodded in understanding. "That's what I figured."

"Hey." Gabriel said, stepping out of the sound-proofed tent. "Show time. Father of the bride, back inside. Groom? You're with me, bucko."

"Already?" Dean asked.

"Nervous?" Gabriel countered.

"No." _Yes_.

Lucy stepped out of the tent, and Gabriel turned to her. "You're up first, Miss Lucy."

"Lucy." Dan said, stopping the older woman as she passed by him. "Thanks for taking care of my girls."

Lucy smiled. "They're wonderful girls, Dan. Always have been. I was more than happy to help."

"Let's get this show on the road, people." Gabriel said. "Where's the big guy?"

"Sam!" Dean called. "Let's go!"

Sam emerged from the tent, Dan went back in, and Lucy headed for the barn to walk down the aisle as the mother of the bride. Sam followed after her to take his place as best man, and Dean stayed where he was for a moment longer than he should have.

"Too late for second thoughts, Dean." Gabriel said. "You already married the girl."

"I'm not having second thoughts." Dean said. "I just wanted to, uh, to thank you."

Gabriel looked mildly surprised. "Thank me? For what?"

"Well, for helping out with all this, for one, but mostly for looking out for Sam and his family." Dean explained. "I can't say my opinion of you has changed all that much, but Sam says you've been behaving, and my nephew apparently thinks you're awesome."

"That's because I am." Gabriel said, wiggling his eyebrows. "And you're welcome. Now, if we're done with the touchy-feely stuff, you're supposed to be in there already."

"Right." Dean said, and headed for the barn.

The stalls and rooms were gone, replaced with chairs to seat all the guests. The chairs were decorated with ribbons and bows, and there were white Christmas lights strung up on the ceiling. Candles, flickering softly, and fall colored flowers added to the overall effect. Dean had to admit that it looked pretty damn good as he stepped through the open barn doors.

There was no groom's side or bride's side, partly because most of their guests would have been on the groom's side, but also because a lot of the guests knew both bride and groom, so everyone had just picked whatever seat they wanted. Dean looked around when he reached the front of the room and took his place beside Sam while Gabriel came in and made his way down the aisle.

"Wow." Dean said quietly to his brother. "Kinda weird, huh?"

"That's an understatement." Sam replied. "Do you realize that we're both older than Mom?"

"We're older than Uncle Danny and Aunt Shari too."

"Why don't you two Chatty Cathys zip it and focus on the wedding?" Gabriel said.

When they turned their attention back to the ceremony Cas was escorting Claire down the aisle, followed by Jake and Alex. Kim followed them, and then Trevor and Kaylie came down the aisle carrying rings on pillow and scattering rose petals. Kaylie went to sit with her parents and sister, and Trevor handed the rings to Sam.

"Did I do okay, Dad?" Trevor asked almost quietly, drawing a light wave of laughter from everyone else.

Sam smiled. "Yeah, Buddy. You did great. Go sit down."

Trevor smiled at the praise and went to sit with Brooke.

"It's like you all over again, Sammy." Dean whispered.

"Shut up." Sam said. "Jerk."

"Bitch."

Gabriel cleared his throat to get them to knock it off, and Kit suddenly decided she wasn't happy sitting in Maddie's lap anymore. Dan and Meredith were about to come in and Kit's wailing drowned out the music.

Dean gestured for Maddie to bring him the screaming child. "Give her here."

Maddie got up and passed the six month old to her father. It took a minute or so, but Kit finally gave in to Dean's gentle bouncing and quiet, soothing murmurs and calmed down.

"Alright." Dean said. "We're good."

When he looked back toward the doorway to watch his wife walk down the aisle, his gaze stopped for a moment on his father. There was a look of pride on John's face, and Dean couldn't help but smile as Kit chewed on his brand new tie.

John held his son's gaze for a moment and gave him a little nod to let him know he had interpreted the look on his face correctly, and then Dean saw his bride. Just like it had earlier, everything else melted away, and all Dean could focus on was Meredith.

"Wow."

She always looked beautiful, but the dress and the hair, the smile of pure joy. All Dean could think was _wow_.

Meredith hugged her father when they reached the front of the room, and took her place facing Dean for the second time today.

This time felt different though. It wasn't any more exciting, but it was just a little more special. Everyone they had loved and lost was here, and she was a little more emotional than she had been this morning. She was even happy to see her mother sitting in the audience, and she couldn't resist the urge to reach out and run her hand over Kit's soft head, leaning in to give her baby a kiss before Gabriel started speaking.

"Dearly beloved," Gabriel began. "We are gathered here today to blah, blah, blah. Let's face it, people. We all know why we're here. These two crazy kids were shot by a cupid, fell in love, saved each other's lives a couple of times, had a baby, and _finally_ decided to get married. We all know the story, or at least the Cliff Notes version, so let's get this show on the road so we can get to the party."

Meredith, like almost everyone else in the room, couldn't help but giggle at Gabriel's words, and stuck her tongue out at Dean when he just rolled his eyes.

"See?" Gabriel said. "Your wife appreciates my humor."

Kit began squirming and Dean shifted her until she was comfortable. "You're hilarious. Can we move on?"

Gabriel gave an exaggerated sigh, earning annoyed reactions from Cas and the Winchesters and more chuckles from several others. "Okay, okay. Dean, Meredith, this is where I'm supposed to remind you how profound and serious this commitment is, but I'm pretty sure you two are the last people in the world that need to be reminded of the significance of your love and marriage since one of you literally went through Hell and back to get here, and the other one came about as close as you can get without actually going to Hell and back. So, let's move on to the vows. The boring, traditional ones that you two decided to exchange to save Dean the embarrassment of having to tell his wife how he feels about her in front of an audience. So, Dean, pretend you're a parrot, and repeat after me."

Vows were exchanged and Kit was passed to Cas while rings were exchanged again.

There were more than a few damp eyes in the room as Gabriel spoke again. "And now, for the second time today, I pronounce you husband and wife. Dean, you may kiss your bride. Again."

Kit let out a happy squeal as she played with Cas' tie, interrupting the kiss because neither of her parents could resist laughing at their daughter's perfect timing.

"Well, at least someone's excited." Dean joked.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Gabriel said, "I give you, drum roll, please...Mr. and Mrs. Dean Winchester!"

He made the announcement as if he were introducing the headlining act at a concert to an arena full of adoring fans, and everyone cheered as Dean and Meredith walked back down the aisle followed by the rest of the wedding party.

 **I want Gabriel at my wedding. I also wouldn't mind having Dean at my wedding. As the groom. Actually, can we just find some kind of spell that can put me in the story as Meredith? Then again, if I'm in the story who's gonna keep writing the story? * sigh * Fine. I won't sell my soul to a demon to become a witch so I can marry Dean. You guys take the fun out of everything, you rotten snails. Just kidding. Actually y'all are what makes this so fun. ~SG**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

After the ceremony everyone was herded outside to a pasture that was much prettier in the angel-verse than it was in the real world for pictures. No one asked who the random photographer was, but he had been taking pictures the whole time, and Gabriel assured them that he and the DJ wouldn't remember a thing. If they did they would think it was a dream, and everyone was going to be able to go home with a photo album.

When the group pictures were finished Gabriel snapped his fingers and the barn was transformed into a reception hall with food set out buffet style for snacking after dinner, a bar, and the DJ set up in the corner. The rows of chairs were replaced with tables and chairs for everyone to sit and eat at or chat around, and there was an area cleared as a dance floor that Dean wasn't exactly looking forward to stepping onto after the cocktail hour was up.

Meredith spotted her mother across the room as everyone mingled, and she was about to go over and get the inevitably awkward greetings out of the way when Cas stepped in front of her and pulled her off to the side.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, noting the concerned look on his face.

"Not that I know of." he said. His voice dropped to a hushed tone. "I wanted to ask you a question."

"Okay."

"Have you told Dean yet?"

"Told Dean what?" she asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized what he was talking about. "Oh. No."

"Why not?"

His voice and face were both heavy with concern, and Meredith knew exactly what he was thinking. "Calm down, Cas. I'm keeping it."

"Them." he corrected.

She stared at him for a moment, her big brown eyes wider than normal. "What?"

"You said it." Cas said.

"Yeah, and you said them. Why did you say them?"

As the color drained out of Meredith's face Cas realized that maybe he shouldn't have corrected her, and prepared to catch her if she should faint. She suddenly looked a little unsteady. "Judging by your reaction I probably shouldn't have said that."

"No." she agreed, reaching out and grabbing his arm to steady herself. She didn't think she'd actually fall over, but she didn't want to take any chances. Thankfully Cas was kind enough to help steady her. "You shouldn't have, but you did, and now I demand an explanation. How many babies am I having?"

"Two." Cas said. "You're having twins."

"I think I need to sit down."

Cas lead her to the closest table and didn't let go of her until she was safely in a chair. He pulled out a second chair and sat down beside her. "I'm sorry, Meredith. I didn't mean to upset you."

She shook her head. "I know. It's okay. I just...Kit's only six months old, and I only found out that I'm pregnant again this morning. Now I'm having twins? I'm not upset. I'm surprised. Or maybe shocked is a better word. But I'll be fine. I just need time to process."

"Is that why you haven't told Dean yet?" Cas asked. "Because you just found out?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We were planning on having more kids, but not this soon. I knew today was going to be a stressful day for both of us, and I didn't want him to be freaking out over another baby right now."

"He'll be happy about it." Cas assured her.

Meredith smiled softly. "I know he will, but this is _not_ the best timing. Babies are expensive and we're not exactly rich. Kit's only six months old, and now we're gonna have _three_ babies. That's a lot. It's not gonna be easy."

"No, but if anyone can figure out how to handle something that's unexpected and not easy it's the Winchesters."

Meredith knew he was right, but that didn't help much. She took a few moments to let her brain adjust to the new information, and then looked at Cas. "Are they okay?"

Cas understood her concern, and discreetly reached out and gently pressed his palm to her still flat belly. A smile spread across his face, and he nodded. "Yes. All three of you are fine."

"Will they stay that way?"

"I don't know for certain, but I think so."

"You knew with Kit."

Cas' gaze fell to his lap. "Actually, I didn't. Not for certain. I shouldn't have lied to you, but you were so worried."

Meredith reached out and placed a hand on his arm, smiling. "It's okay, Cas. I don't like that you lied to me, but I understand why you did. And Kit was just fine."

"Well, I think these babies will be just fine too." Cas said, giving his honest opinion. "Do you want to know if they're boys or girls?"

She considered it and shook her head. "No. Not yet. That's something I want to find out with Dean."

"I think you'll both be pleased." he said.

Meredith smiled. "It doesn't matter if they're boys or girls, Cas. We'll be happy either way."

"I suppose that's part of being a parent." Cas said, his gaze settling on Claire, who was laughing with Alex and Krissy across the room.

"It is, and you're doing just fine with Claire." she assured him. "And Alex."

"Oh. I'm not –"

"Yes, you are." she said, cutting off his argument. "You're the closest thing either of them has to a father, and they both love you. And I know you love them. I can see it on your face."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Really. You look at Claire and Alex the same way Dean looks at Kit. Especially Claire."

"I do love them."

"Of course you do. They're your daughters."

"My wayward daughters." Cas said affectionately.

Meredith smiled, placing a hand lovingly over her twins.

%%%

"Here comes Dad." Sam said, as he stood off to the side, drinking a beer with his brother. "Are you ready for this?"

"Are you?" Dean asked, taking a sip of his beer.

"Not really." Sam admitted. "But we can't exactly hide from him."

Dean took another drink and caught sight of Meredith and Cas across the room. They were sitting at a table, talking about something that looked pretty serious. Even from across the barn Dean could tell that his wife's coloring was off, and she looked like she had just received some very unexpected news. Dean, of course, was immediately concerned.

"We can't hide, but we can put it off." he said, referring to their father.

Sam followed his brother's gaze and had no trouble understanding that something was going on with Meredith. "What's that about?"

"I don't know, but I'm gonna go find out." Dean said as John reached them.

"Sam. Dean." John said, greeting his sons with a smile.

"Not now, Dad." Dean cut in, not caring if he was being rude. He handed Sam his beer and went to go check on his wife.

"What's going on?" John asked.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know."

%%%

Dean crossed the barn quickly, brushing off the people that tried to congratulate him. He didn't mean to be rude, but something was going on with his wife and he needed to make sure she was okay. Meredith looked more shocked than upset, but he was afraid something was wrong, the worst possibilities running through his head as he made his way across the barn. By the time he reached them Meredith and Cas were both smiling and looked pretty happy, but he still had to make sure she was okay.

"Mere?" he said, placing a hand on the back of her chair to brace himself for the blow of whatever she might tell him. "Hey, are you okay?"

There was more than just curiosity or concern in his voice, and when she looked up at him she could tell he had witnessed at least part of the conversation she had just had with Cas. She knew he hadn't heard what had been said because he'd been on the other side of the room, but she hadn't exactly hidden her reactions to the news Cas had just dropped in her lap. Dean had seen those reactions, and now he was afraid something was wrong.

"Dean, I'm fine." she assured him, reaching up and putting her hand on his arm. "I promise. Everything's okay."

"It didn't look like everything was okay." Dean said, still worried.

"I know, but it is." she stood up and touched his face. "I'm okay. Everything's okay. Cas just told me something I wasn't quite prepared for, but it's fine. I'll explain everything later."

Dean believed her. Of course he believed her, but her assurances that everything was fine weren't good enough to truly ease his fears. He wanted to know what had been said that had caused all the color to drain out of her face. "Why can't you explain now?"

"I um..." Cas said, rising from his seat. "I'll let you two...I'll just go somewhere else."

Dean watched the angel walk away, and then looked back at his wife. "Mere, what's going on? If everything's okay, why can't you tell me what's going on now? Why wait until later?"

Meredith sighed, realizing that she had to tell him or he'd just worry about it all night. He wouldn't be able to have any fun. She gestured to the chair Cas had just vacated. "Sit down."

"Everything's okay, but I have to sit down?" he asked as he sat. "Mere, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Dean." she assured him, smiling. "I'm pregnant."

Now it was Dean's turn to have all the color drain from his face. "You're..."

She nodded. "I found out this morning. I was gonna wait to tell you until tomorrow because I knew today would be stressful for both of us. This isn't the best timing, and I didn't want you worrying about me being pregnant again when you're supposed to be having fun. We don't have a whole lot of money right now, and Kit's only six months old..."

"And you're pregnant again." Dean said, still in shock and trying to process the news. "We're having another baby?"

She nodded, smiling because she was happy, but also because she could tell that he was happy too even though he still hadn't quite wrapped his head around the news yet. She knew telling him the rest wasn't going to help calm him down any, but she knew she had to go ahead and tell him. Once he was able to think straight again he would ask what Cas had told her that she hadn't been prepared for. "Two actually. We're having twins, Dean."

"What?"

She was a little surprised that he didn't fall out of his chair.

"Twins?" Dean asked for clarification. Surely he hadn't heard her right. "As in _two_?"

Somehow she managed not to giggle. "Yes, Dean. Twins means two."

"So...we're gonna have _three_ babies?"

"Yeah."

"Three babies." he said. "I've gotta get a better job. How are we gonna afford _three_ babies? We can't fit three babies in the truck. We need a new car. I have to sell the Impala."

"Whoa!" Meredith said, cutting him off before he could sell the house too. "Dean, calm down! We're not selling the Impala. I can't believe you even thought that!"

"We have a truck and two cars, Mere, and none of them are suitable family cars." he said. "We can't afford a fourth car and three kids. I'm a mechanic, and you're a teacher, and you don't make anywhere near as much money as you should."

"Dean!"

"What?"

"You're having a fit." she said, giggling because she couldn't help it. "If you don't calm down I'm gonna have to slap you. Please don't make me slap you at our wedding reception."

Dean looked around the room. He had forgotten where they were in his panic. "Okay. I'm okay."

"Good. Just promise me you're not gonna try to sell the Impala."

"Who said anything about selling the Impala?"

"You did."

"I did?" He took a moment to remember what he had said. "I did. Son of a bitch."

"We do need to figure out the car situation, but we don't have to figure it out right now." she said. "We don't have to figure any of it out right now. And whatever we do, we are _not_ selling the Impala. We don't sell family members. If we have to sell the truck and the Camaro, we will, but Baby stays."

"Damn right Baby stays." he ran a hand over his face and took a calming breath. "Twins?"

She nodded.

"How do you know it's twins?"

"Cas told me." she explained. "I don't think he meant to, but you know Cas."

"Yeah." Dean said, well acquainted with the angel's unpredictable sharing patterns. "So, that's what you looked so freaked out over?"

"Yeah. I guess he sensed that I'm pregnant or whatever angels do, and he pulled me aside to ask if you knew yet. I said it, he said them, and I think it's safe to say that I took the news a lot better than you did."

"Twins." Dean said, amazed as he leaned back in his chair. "Wow. Three kids. Three _babies_. How the hell are we gonna handle three babies?"

Meredith smiled. "We're Winchesters. We can handle anything."

Dean couldn't help but smile back. It still sounded cheesy to him, but it definitely wasn't the first time someone had told him that Winchesters could handle anything, and he didn't really have a lot of proof to use in an argument against the statement. As much as he didn't want to admit it because he didn't really feel like he could handle anything, it seemed that he could. As long as he wasn't trying to handle it all on his own. He was almost certain that he couldn't have done any of the things he had done over the years if he had been alone.

"Does Cas know if they're girls or boys?" he asked. "Or a girl and a boy?"

"He knows, but I didn't want to know."

Dean's face fell. "Oh."

"Let me rephrase that." she said. "I do want to know, but I want to find out with you."

Dean smiled. "Oh."

"And I think we should hold off on telling everyone for a little while."

"How come?"

"Because we just found out." she explained. "Don't you want a little time to let it sink in?"

"Yeah."

Music started playing and Gabriel picked up a microphone, clearing his throat to grab everyone's attention. "Dean? Meredith? I believe they're playing your song."

"Do I have to?" Dean asked as the music played and their guests waited to watch them share their first dance as husband and wife.

Meredith stood up and held out her hand for his, smiling at him. "Please?"

"You know it's true. Everything I do, I do it for you." Bryan Adams sang.

Dean stood, took his wife's hand, and gave her a quick kiss. "What he said."

 **So this chapter feels really rushed to me, but oh well. It was fun, right? Can you imagine Dean trying to handle _three_ babies? He may be in a little over his head here, but at least no one's selling the Impala. Thank God for level-headed wives. And yes, I already know whether the twins are girls or boys (or a girl and a boy), and I've already named them. One of you already knows, but does anyone else wanna take a guess? ~SG**


	7. Chapter 7

**Warning: This chapter's a little dark.**

Chapter 6

Dean was not a dancer. Sure he did silly little dances around the house to make his girls smile, but this was completely different. This was serious dancing, and they had an audience. He didn't want to get up and dance in front of everyone, but he did it because Meredith had asked him to, and it wasn't long before everything else melted away and it was just the two of them.

At some point Kit joined them, and by the time the song ended he had both of his girls in his arms and he was pretty sure no one had ever been happier than he was right now. He kissed his wife and then his daughter, and found that he was sad when the song was over. He didn't care much for dancing, but he could dance forever with Meredith.

After their first dance Sam and Kim made sweet speeches that didn't embarrass their siblings too much and dinner was served. At least half of the guests didn't need to eat, but everyone sat down and enjoyed a plate of rosemary pork chops, green beans, and mashed potatoes, all prepared by the bride and groom. Not because they were trying to save money, because Gabriel and Cas could have easily taken care of the food, but simply because they enjoyed cooking for their family.

After dinner, while everyone was munching on treats from the buffet, dancing, chatting, and having fun, Dean and Meredith decided to go ahead and get the awkward parent interactions out of the way. Dean reminded Meredith to play nice with her mother, and she promised once more that she would before walking over to the table where Kim, Jake, and Dylan were chatting with Jason and Lucy Jackson. She reached out and ruffled Dylan's hair, smiling when he groaned in annoyance and swatted her hand away.

"Mama!"

"Who are you trying to impress?" Meredith teased her nephew.

"He was checking out Krissy earlier." Kim said.

"I was not." the seventeen year old argued.

Meredith grinned. "Going for the older girls now? What would Ali say?"

Dylan rolled his eyes at the mention of Ali Miller, the mayor's granddaughter. She was a sweet girl, and everyone in town knew she had a huge crush on Dylan. Everyone also knew that her mother, Krista, who had a bad habit of being overly saccharine to hide her desire to gather whatever gossip she could, also had a bad habit of flirting with Dean.

Meredith and Krista had never been friends, and she really wished the other woman would stop hitting on her husband for two reasons. First of all, Krista was married. She now had two children with Shawn Miller, whom Meredith had always been friends with. She couldn't quite understand what Shawn saw in Krista, but it was obvious that Ali's sweet nature had come from her father. She hoped their new baby, Tracy (who everyone in town was now going to have to pretend not to call Trixie) took after Shawn as well.

The second reason Meredith wished Krista would leave Dean alone was because she was only embarrassing herself. Everyone was aware of her flirting, including her husband, but she didn't seem to be aware that she was so obvious. She also seemed to be oblivious to the fact that she didn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell. Even if she and Shawn ever got divorced Dean wasn't going anywhere. There was no way he was ever going to leave Meredith or cheat on her, and he had told her more than once that Krista Miller was the most annoying woman he'd ever met.

"Why would you bring Ali into this?" Dylan asked, dragging Meredith's thoughts away from Ali's mother.

"Ali Miller?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Dylan's fangirl." Kim said.

Dylan groaned. "She's so annoying!"

"She's sweet." Meredith corrected. "And it's not like she's stalking you. She just gives you more attention than the other boys because she likes you."

"She's in love with him." Jake teased.

Dylan shot his father a deadly look.

"Is she related to Shawn?" Jason asked.

"His daughter." Meredith confirmed.

"His and Krista's." Kim added.

Jason's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "Shawn and _Krista_?"

Meredith, Kim, and Jake all nodded.

"She must've changed."

"Not one bit." Jake said. "They only got married because she got pregnant."

"And because Shawn's the mayor's son." Kim added. "Krista always was a gold-digger. I honestly think that's _why_ she got pregnant. So he'd have to marry her."

"So, why's she after my husband?" Meredith asked. "The only gold Dean has is in dagger form."

"Because your husband's hot." Kim said, looking up at her sister.

"Hey." Jake protested.

"And so is mine." she said, patting his leg. "Don't worry, Jake. I won't fall in love with anymore of my sister's husbands."

"Good." Meredith and Jake said in unison.

Clair ran over and dragged Dylan out of his chair.

"Ow!" he protested as her nails dug into his arm. "You need to trim your nails."

"These aren't nails." Claire said. "Their weapons. Come on."

Dylan looked back at his grandmother, not wanting to leave her.

"Just for a little while." Claire said. "Just come dance with us for a few songs and you can come right back."

"Go on." Lucy said, waving him away. "Go play."

Claire dragged Dylan away and the adults watched them go.

"She seems like a sweet girl." Lucy said, smiling.

"Claire's great." Meredith confirmed. "Troubled, but great."

"She reminds me of you, Mary Kate."

Meredith smiled at the woman that had stepped in when her mother had abandoned her. Lucy was the only one that called her Mary Kate, and it had been a long time since she had heard the nickname.

"That's because Claire is a younger, blonde version of Meredith." Jake said.

Meredith didn't argue because it was true. Instead she leaned down to hug her sister and kissed her cheek. "Ready to go talk to our mother?"

Kim sighed heavily. "As I'll ever be. Help me up."

Kim was about seven months pregnant, and Meredith and Jason both helped haul her out of her chair so they could go talk to their parents even though none of them were really looking forward to spending time with their mother.

%%%

Meredith thought it should feel weird being older than her brother. Jason had only been eighteen when he died. Dylan was almost the same age. Her father had only been twenty-eight, her mother thirty-three. It should feel weird suddenly being the oldest person in her family, older than her older brother, older than her parents. Her parents were grandparents now, had been for fifteen years, and yet they weren't much older than their oldest grandchild. It should be weird, but it wasn't. Maybe because they looked exactly as they had the last time she'd seen them alive, and she had no idea what they would look like now if they had been allowed to age. Maybe because she was so used to supernatural things by now.

As they approached the table their parents were sitting at, waiting for them, she realized she hadn't been entirely correct. Yes, Dan and Jason looked the same as they had years ago, but not her mother.

In the last five years of her life Meredith remembered her mother looking vacant and lifeless, depressed, broken. Drunk. There was none of that now. She looked healthy, happy, beautiful. Her brown hair was fixed nicely, her face didn't look dead as it had at the end of her life even though she actually _was_ dead now, and her pale blue eyes were clear and bright. She was smiling, happy to see her children, but she also looked a little apprehensive. She was nervous, afraid they wouldn't forgive her, didn't love her anymore. Meredith wasn't sure she could ease those fears any, but she was willing to try if only she could get some answers.

 _Be nice to your mother, Mere_. Dean's words echoed in her head as Elvis sang "Jailhouse Rock". _You don't know the whole story._

He had sounded so certain that she was missing information. She didn't know how he knew, but she wanted to know _what_ he knew. She wanted to know what could make a mother abandon her children.

Dan had already hugged his daughters and talked to them some, and now it was Sharon's turn. She stood up to greet them, her nervous smile still in place, and moved toward Meredith first. "You look so beautiful."

Meredith stiffened instinctively as her mother's arms came around her, but managed to relax and return the hug. It was awkward, but Sharon seemed to appreciate the effort. "So do you." she said honestly. "You look a hell of a lot better than you did the last time I saw you."

"Not my finest hour." Sharon said, attempting humor. She turned to Kim, wanting to hug her as well, but stopped when she realized that her younger daughter wasn't interested. "Hello, Kimmie."

"Hi Mama." Kim said, her green eyes glistening with tears.

When she didn't get anything else out of Kim Sharon turned to Jason. He allowed the hug, but didn't say anything more than hello. It seemed Meredith was going to be the one asking all the questions and playing nice. She wished Dean was with her, but he was dealing with his own parents right now, and she was certainly strong enough to handle pulling the truth out of her mother. At least, she hoped she was.

"How far along are you, Kimmie?" Sharon asked once they were all seated, stalling.

"Seven months." Kim replied, cold anger simmering just under the surface. "It's a boy. His name is Liam. I'm sorry you won't get to meet him."

Kim wasn't sorry. She was angry and hurt, and Meredith was surprised that she hadn't said that she was _glad_ their mother wouldn't have a chance to meet Liam.

Sharon didn't respond. Her daughter might not be saying exactly what she was thinking, but she wasn't doing anything to hide the way she felt.

"Mama," Meredith said, knowing that this wasn't the time or place to have this conversation. But it was the only chance they had. "What happened? You abandoned us, and we deserve to know why."

"Losing your father—"

"No." Meredith snapped, cutting her off. She didn't feel like playing nice. She wanted the truth. "At this point in my life I can't imagine anything worse than losing Dean, and I very easily _could_ lose him. But even if I did I could _never_ do to Kit what you did to us. There's more to the story, and I...we...we need to know what happened. All of it."

"Don't take that tone with me, Meredith Katharine." Sharon said, slipping into mom mode out of habit.

"Shari." Dan cautioned.

Meredith was on the verge of losing her self-control. She was just as angry and hurt as her siblings, and she was about to start shouting at her mother when she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.

She knew without looking up that it was her husband, and instantly felt calmer. Still hurt and angry, but no longer explosive. She took a breath and said what she had been about to say, but used a slightly gentler tone. "You don't get to be my mother right now. You quit being my mother a long time ago. So don't Meredith Katharine me. Just tell us the truth. Please."

Dean pulled up a chair and sat down, wanting to hear what Sharon had to say just as much as the others. He had said hello to his parents, given his father enough time to tell him that he was proud of him, managed to stop reeling from the shock of the unexpected compliment, and excused himself to be with Meredith. He knew there was a lot more that he and Sam needed to discuss with their parents in the short amount of time they had, but right now Meredith needed him more.

Sharon understood exactly why her children were angry, and Meredith had every right to speak her mind. Instead of making things worse by continuing to play the mother when she had very truthfully stepped out of that role a long time ago, she simply continued what she had been saying. If Meredith hadn't cut her off she would have realized that she was getting exactly what she wanted.

"Losing your father was the last straw for me." she explained. "That's what broke me. I don't expect any of you to believe me, but I am sorry for the way things turned out. I didn't mean for any of it to happen. I just couldn't fight any longer."

"Fight what?" Kim asked, demanding an answer.

"Depression." Sharon replied. "I struggled with it for most of my life, and losing your father was more than I could handle after everything else I'd been through. I hate that I left you to fend for yourselves, and I did try to be there. I just didn't have the strength to do it anymore. I thought I could eventually pull myself out of it, because I knew you needed me, but..."

"It didn't work out the way you hoped." Kim said coldly.

"Kim." Meredith hissed. "Chill. This isn't easy for any of us."

Kim covered her face with her hands for a moment, frustrated with the situation and herself. "I know. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so ugly. It's just...I'm pissed and pregnant. I thought I could handle this better."

Sharon gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know you're angry at me, Kimmie, and I don't blame you. You have every right to be. I screwed up, but you need to understand it wasn't entirely my fault."

"You were depressed." Jason said. "We get that, but you said you couldn't handle losing Dad after everything else. What else happened?"

"You're forgetting the twins." Meredith reminded her brother softly.

Dean knew it couldn't be easy for her to think about her lost siblings when she had just found out she was pregnant with twins too. Especially after her first two pregnancies. He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. She smiled and squeezed back.

"What twins?" Kim asked.

"I've told you about them." Meredith said. "You were only two when they...when it happened."

"What happened?" Kim asked, vaguely remembering hearing something about twins, but she didn't know any details. Apparently that was one of the things her sister didn't like to talk about.

"They died." Jason said.

"That was a lie." Sharon said.

Everyone at the table except for Dan stared at her in shock.

"Why would you tell us they died if they didn't?" Meredith asked. "What did you do with them?"

"They were adopted." Dan explained.

"I couldn't keep them." Sharon added. "I was raped. I got pregnant, and my rapist went to prison, but I couldn't keep the babies. So we found them a family."

"So, we've got other siblings out there somewhere?" Meredith asked, leaning against Dean because she was too stunned to sit up on her own right now. Is this how he had felt when he had found out about Adam?

Sharon nodded. "Three actually."

Dean groaned quietly. He wasn't sure he liked the number three very much anymore.

"Three?" Kim echoed. "You had _three_ babies we didn't know about?"

Sharon nodded. "If I had been able to fight my depression and the alcoholism I would've told you eventually, but you were all so young, and I couldn't bear to even think about them."

"So..." Meredith said, knowing the others were wondering the same thing. "How did we end up with three siblings that we never knew about?"

"I was only seventeen when I had Miranda." Sharon explained. "You're father and I broke up over some fight. I don't even remember what it was about. I was upset and I agreed to go on a date with Michael Roberts. He was kind of the school bad boy. Sort of a Fonzie type."

Meredith looked at Dean.

"What're you lookin' at me for?" he asked. "Do I look like the Fonz to you?"

"She didn't say he _looked_ like Fonzie." Meredith reminded him. "She said he was the Fonzie _type_ , and you, my dear husband, definitely qualify. Except you drive an Impala instead of a motorcycle."

"How would you know?"

"Chuck."

He had forgotten that she had read the books. "No more reading for you, Pinky Tuscadero."

Meredith only smiled. "That's Pinky _Winchester_ now."

"You realize that's your new nickname now, right?" Kim said. "Are you sure you want to be called Pinky?"

Meredith shrugged. "Enough Happy Days. I want to hear more about our big sister."

Sharon realized she was slowly beginning to win back her older daughter's trust, and smiled. "I went out with Mike once, and I didn't find out I was pregnant until after your father and I got back together a couple of weeks later. Michael wasn't interested in being a father."

"I was ready to get married and adopt the baby, but your mother wasn't ready to be a mother yet." Dan continued. "So she decided to put the baby up for adoption."

"I named her Miranda, but I don't know if she ever got adopted." Sharon said sadly.

"And the twins were adopted too?" Meredith prompted.

Sharon nodded. "Yes. We personally picked out a family for them."

"What are their names?" Kim asked.

"Rebecca and Connor Donovan."

"Rebecca and Connor Donovan?" Meredith repeated, latching on to the names. "You're sure?"

"Yes. Why?" Sharon asked, curious about her daughter's suddenly alert reaction.

"I know them."

Kim's head snapped around to stare at her sister. "What?"

"I think." Meredith said. "One of the foster homes I was in, the first one. There was a girl there that was about four years younger than me. Her name was Rebecca Donovan, and she had a twin brother named Connor, but they'd been separated just like we were."

"Well, how did they end up in a foster home if they were adopted?" Dean asked.

Meredith shook her head. "I'm not sure. We were friends, but she never told me what happened to her parents. I was in that house for about three months before their foster license expired, and I had to move to a new home. Rebecca left about a month before that. I'm not sure why. I think her social worker had managed to get her and Connor placed together. I never heard from her after she left."

"I can't believe you knew our sister." Kim said. "You _lived_ with her."

"I shared a room with her." Meredith corrected, her eyes filling with tears.

Dean put his arm around her. "Maybe we can track her down. Maybe we can track all of them down."

Meredith and Kim both nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry I never told you about them." Sharon said. "When the twins were adopted you were all too young to really understand what had happened, so we told you they had died, and Jason was only thirteen when..."

"I could've understood at thirteen." Jason said. "Meredith and Kim probably could've understood then too."

"I'm sure you could've, but I couldn't talk about it then." Sharon said. "Any of it. I couldn't even think about it. If things had worked out differently I would've told all of you eventually. But I made bad decisions. I gave up when I should've fought harder. After your father died I should've called John."

"Why didn't you?" Kim asked. "If you had..."

"I might still be alive." Jason finished.

"I was afraid." Sharon admitted. "Your death is as much my fault as it is the ghost that killed you. Maybe even more so because I could've done something to stop it. But I didn't know what John did, and after everything that had happened I was afraid to call him. I was afraid to find out that something else had happened, that it hadn't been suicide. I think part of me knew it was something unexplainable, but I didn't want to believe it. If I had called John I would've had no choice but to believe it. I'm sorry."

They all wanted to tell her that it wasn't her fault, but they couldn't because they all knew it was. If she had only called John then maybe Jason would still be alive. Maybe Sharon wouldn't have drank herself to death. Maybe the accident that killed her and Melissa Talmadge wouldn't have happened. Maybe they wouldn't have ended up in foster care. Maybe Meredith wouldn't have spiraled out of control. Maybe Kim wouldn't have developed an eating disorder.

"Maybe all the bad things wouldn't have happened, but maybe none of the good things would've happened either." Meredith said, looking up at her mother. "I'm not saying it's not your fault, because it is. At least partly, but I understand what happened now. And why it happened. And as much as I hate the fact that Jason died, and all the bad things that happened in our lives...good things came out of it too. If you had called John after Hanna killed Daddy she never would've come after me, and Dean may not have come back into my life." She looked at her husband. "You were still just a kid then. He wouldn't have brought you on that hunt, would he?"

"I don't know." Dean said. "He left us on our own a lot back then so we wouldn't get hurt or get in the way. He might have brought us along because of the whole family friend thing, but I doubt it."

"You guys are soulmates." Kim argued. "You would've found each other eventually."

"But we don't know when we were shot." Meredith reminded her. "It might've been when we were kids in Lawrence, or it might've been when he and Sam showed up after _I_ called John. Or it might've been when he turned my world upside down last Spring. I hate that Jason died, and I miss him every single day. I hate that we had to deal with the crap that we had to deal with, Kim, but I will _never_ say I'm not happy I met Dean. And if things had worked out differently there's a good chance neither of us would've married Jake. There's also a chance you wouldn't have Rowan."

"You can't unsink the Titanic." Dean said, agreeing with his wife. "Fate's a bitch, but she knows what she's doing."

Jason nodded. "They're right, Kimmie. I'm not happy I was murdered by a ghost, but I am happy that my sisters get to be happy."

"I understand." Kim said. "And I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Mama, but it just sucks."

"I know, sweetheart." Sharon said, reaching out for Kim's hand and smiling when she was allowed to take it. "But you've done so well with the lemons life had handed you. You've got a beautiful family, a job that you love, and you're happy. That's all any of us ever wanted for you, for both of you. I'm sorry that you had to get here the way you did, but you did good. You both did so good."

Kim and Meredith were both crying now, and Dean wasn't surprised. He hadn't seen a lot of tears from Kim, but she was Meredith's sister and they were a lot alike. Somehow, Dean Winchester, the man that had been taught to internalize everything until it all came out in bouts of rage and alcoholism, had found himself in the middle of a family that was pretty open about their emotions. He couldn't help but wonder if he would be more open with his emotions too if he had grown up in a world without monsters. Or in a world with a mother.

 **Poor Shari! Too bad the AKF campaign wasn't around back in 1992. Then again, maybe Meredith's right. If Sharon had lived everything might be different. And, of course, my writer's brain is constantly thinking about _how_ things might be different. And since we've got angels and djinn running around Bristol Ridge there's a possibility we might just find out at some point. But for now, let's just focus on what is. Like the fact that I can't seem to stop adding family members. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with all of them, but I do have plans to bring Miranda, Rebecca, and Connor in at some point. Actually, I'd like to be able to introduce Miranda in the next story, which is going to take a little while because I'm still trying to figure out the actual plot for the awesome idea I've come up with. And there's only nine chapters in this story, so y'all are gonna have to be patient with me again. But you seem to be pretty good at that for the most part, so I won't worry about finding an angry mob outside my house any time soon. Anyway, I hope y'all have been enjoying the story so far, and you know I love it when you leave reviews and comments. It just brightens up my day so much! Love y'all! ~SG**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

"I can't believe I have _three_ other siblings, and I actually _met_ one of them and didn't even know it!" Meredith exclaimed.

After talking to their parents Kim had gone to fill Jake in, and Meredith and Dean were out in the pasture, away from everyone else. She was having a panic attack, and Dean was trying his best to calm her down. It wasn't working very well.

"I shared a room with her for two months!" she continued, shaking because she was so worked up. "I have _pictures_ of us together, Dean!"

"Maybe it's not the same girl." he suggested. He didn't want her to get her hopes up and then be crushed if it wasn't the same Rebecca Donovan. "Your mom said the twins were adopted when they were born."

"Parents die, Dean." she snapped. "We know that better than anyone. So what if they were adopted when they were born? That doesn't mean that something didn't happen to their parents after they were adopted. Dean...what if she wasn't as lucky as I was? What if she had a terrible life after leaving that house? What if they both did? What if I could've helped them?"

"Mere."

"I could've helped them." she said, her eyes filling with tears. "If I had known they were my half-siblings I could've helped them. Lucy would've taken them in like she did us, and once she got me straightened out I could've taken care of them just like I did with Kim."

She was crying again now, and Dean suddenly felt like he was living in some old movie as he pulled her to him to try to comfort her and she pulled away and beat her fists against his chest in anger and frustration, and then collapsed against him. He forced himself not to laugh at the moment that would have been at least a little comical had she not been so seriously upset.

"Meredith," he said as he held her, using her full name to make sure he had her full attention. "I know you're upset, but what could've been doesn't matter. You didn't know about them, so you couldn't have done anything."

"I still could've helped." she whimpered, her voice muffled against his shirt. "I should've helped."

Dean shook his head. "No. You didn't know who she was when you met her, and you didn't know her well enough to stay in touch with her after she left. You didn't do anything wrong, and you can't go back and change it. I'm sure Rebecca doesn't hold it against you for not rescuing her."

"She probably doesn't even remember me."

"Maybe not." Dean said. "But we know about her now, and we'll find her. We'll find Connor and Miranda too, and if they need help we'll help them. Okay?"

She nodded.

"Good. Now can we curb the hormones and stop pretending you're Scarlett O'Hara?"

Meredith laughed, but it sounded like it was half sob. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Overreacting."

"I could've done without you hitting me, but you're not exactly in complete control of your emotions right now." he said, kissing her forehead. "Besides, I overreacted earlier. Now we're even."

Meredith smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling safe and protected when his arms closed around her. Nothing could hurt her here. Everything was going to be okay. "Do you have any idea how amazing you are?"

"Yep." he said just to make her laugh. "Feeling better?"

She nodded. "Mmhm. I love you."

"I know you do."

"Wrong response."

"I love you too, Pinky Winchester."

Meredith laughed. It started out as a giggle, but she couldn't stop. By the time Gabriel came out looking for them they were both laughing so hard they couldn't stand up.

"Clearly I missed a really good joke." Gabriel said. "But if you're all done having your own little party out here you're both needed inside."

"For what?" Dean asked, wiping away tears he was laughing so hard.

"It's time for the lovely bride to throw the bouquet." The angel wiggled his eyebrows and winked at Dean. "And then you get to throw the garter."

Dean knew what that meant, and he wasn't sure he felt comfortable with reaching up his wife's skirt in front of all their friends and family. He started to ask if he had to, but they had already had this conversation. He knew he wasn't getting out of it, so he would just have to suck it up and make his wife happy.

He gave himself a little while to catch his breath and then stood up, helping Meredith to her feet and steadying her when her heel sank into the ground and threw her off balance. "You good?"

Meredith pulled her heel free, leaning on Dean to keep her balance, and nodded. "Yep."

"Maybe you should just take your shoes off." he suggested.

"Or you can do that for me in a little while." she said, winking playfully. "Come on."

Dean allowed himself to be led back inside, Gabriel following behind them.

The music stopped and Gabriel made an announcement asking for all the single ladies, dead and alive, to gather on the dance floor. "You too, Brookie." he added even though she wasn't straggling.

Gabriel handed Meredith her bouquet and she turned to face away from the group of women waiting to catch the flowers. The DJ played a drum roll and she threw the bouquet backward over her head, pulling a string as she did and causing it to break into smaller pieces. As soon as the flowers left her fingers she turned to watch her friends scramble to catch them. There were delighted gasps and squeaks from the audience because no one had expected the bouquet to break apart, and the expected sounds of excited women scuffling good-naturedy to get their hands on a piece of it.

There were six smaller bouquets and Brooke, Charlie, Donna, Claire, Jo, and Kate ended up with them. Brooke had the largest one, so she would be the one to have the garter put on her leg in a little while.

The crowd was cleared off the dance floor and a chair was brought over for Meredith. She sat down and Sam had to give Dean a shove to get him to reluctantly join her.

"I don't want to do this, Mere." he said quietly, embarrassed to have all eyes on him.

"It's not that big of a deal, Dean." She smiled as she pulled up her skirt some and stuck her leg out, nudging his suggestively with her foot.

Dean swallowed, telling himself that she was right. It wasn't that big a deal. Couples did this all the time at weddings. It's not like they were having sex in front of everyone. It was just a silly wedding tradition, and it wasn't going to kill him. He took a deep breath. It wasn't a big deal. He was only taking a piece of lacy elastic off his wife's leg.

He crouched down in front of her, and nervously removed her shoe. She had only pulled the skirt of her full-length gown up enough to get it out of the way so he could take her shoe off, and he looked up at her, begging her silently to make this easier on him. She acquiesced, hitching her skirt up to her knee, and he realized that she clearly wasn't going to help him out any further. He resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to reach up her skirt to get to the garter, and was about to do so when someone let out a whistle.

"I can't do it." He said standing up and backing away. "It's too weird."

"I'll do it!" Charlie volunteered from the sidelines, raising her hand.

Meredith giggled, and Dean turned red.

"Someone's gotta do it." Charlie said. "You obviously can't do it, and your wife is hot. I don't mind helping out a little." She looked at Meredith. "You don't mind, do you?"

Meredith stuck out her leg again. "Go for it."

Charlie looked back at Dean for permission, and he gestured for her to go ahead.

Charlie, unlike Dean, had no trouble pushing Meredith's skirt up passed her knee and slipping the pretty, beaded garter off her leg. "Vintage?"

"Vintage inspired." Meredith corrected. "Homemade."

"Nice." Charlie took a closer look at Meredith's handiwork. Elastic covered in white satin, trimmed in pretty white lace, and decorated with sparkling rhinestones and faux pearls. There was even a delicate satin bow with and anti-possession charm dangling from it. She looked up at Meredith. "You did all this by hand?"

Meredith nodded. "Yes ma'am. And Dean had no idea I was working on it."

Charlie stood up and walked over to hand Dean the garter so he could throw it. "This is beautiful. You're wife is wicked talented."

"I know she is." Dean said, taking the decoration and examining it for a moment. It was a beautiful piece of work, and he really hadn't had any idea that she was making it. He thought she had bought one. "She made the dress too."

"Seriously?" Charlie asked, impressed. "Where'd you learn to sew like that?"

"My moms." Meredith said, smiling at Sharon and Lucy who were now sitting together.

"So, uh, can we get the rest of this over with?" Dean asked.

Charlie and Meredith moved to stand with Brooke, and the men gathered on the dance floor to catch the garter. Dean didn't care to make a show of it, so he simply shot it into the crowd like a rubber band.

It sailed across the room and hit Cas squarely in the face. The angel reacted as if Dean had thrown a spider at him, reflexively catching the garter and then tossing it off as if it might poison him. It fell in the floor after hitting Sam's arm and he leaned down and snatched it up before anyone else could. Brooke may not be his girlfriend, but he wasn't sure he liked the idea of anyone else sliding the garter up her leg.

The crowd cleared, the chair was returned, and Brooke took her seat. Sam admired the evidence of Meredith's talent for a moment, and then remembered that he was supposed to be putting it on Brooke. Like his brother he was uncomfortable having everyone's eyes on him, and when he attempted to remove Brooke's red pump he couldn't do it.

Charlie sighed and held out her hand. "This is really sad. Big, strong monster hunters can't handle a little lace. It's not like you're doing something dirty. It's not even _that_ sexy."

"Sexy enough." Sam said. "My son's in the room, Charlie."

"Do you mind?" Charlie asked Brooke.

"Nope." Brooke replied.

They played it up a little just to embarrass Sam as Charlie removed Brooke's shoe and slid the garter into place.

"Who wants cake?" Gabriel asked afterward, getting a cheer from everyone.

"Can you handle cutting the cake?" Meredith asked, teasing her husband.

"Of course I can handle cutting the cake."

The cake was three tiers, chocolate with white butter cream icing that was actually yellow because of the butter, with fudge drizzled over it, and homemade by the bride. She had had to chase Dean out of the kitchen five times, placating him by allowing him to lick the beaters when she was finished with them. It was trimmed with edible ribbon and flowers that matched the bouquet and other decorations. It was the prettiest cake Dean had ever seen and he felt a little guilty about cutting into it with the silver knife, but his guilt quickly faded because he knew it was going to taste even better than it looked.

"Is that the knife you used to kill Alec?" Kim asked.

"Maybe." Dean said. It was, and it had been Meredith's idea to use it. Sort of a symbol of their love.

"Gross." Rowan said, making a face. "I'm not eating cake cut with a murder weapon."

"That knife saved my life." Meredith said.

"Uh, excuse me." Dean fussed. " _I_ saved your life."

"Yeah. With this knife." she said, picking it up.

"And a little help." Jake added.

"Can we just cut the cake?" Dean asked, wrapping his hand around Meredith's. "And the knife is clean, by the way."

They cut a small slice out of the cake and Dean let Meredith transfer it to a plate so it didn't end up in the floor. But it still didn't make it to the plate. Instead of transferring it to the plate she transferred it to her hand and smashed it in his face, rubbing it in for good measure as everyone laughed at him.

"Thanks, Mere." he said dryly as he licked cake and icing off his lips.

She grinned up at him. "You had to have known that was coming."

"I thought it might be." he admitted, and grabbed her before she could escape, leaning down and rubbing his face all over hers.

She laughed and grabbed his face to kiss him.

"That may be the best tasting kiss I ever got." Dean said. "Good cake."

He grabbed a napkin and began wiping her face off because her hands were now covered in cake as well, and Alex picked up the knife and started cutting up the cake and putting the slices on plates for everyone to grab. There were also brownies, cake pops, and three different kinds of cookies, all baked by Meredith with help from Rowan and Maddie.

After Dean cleaned her face off Meredith licked her hands clean, and then wiped them off with a napkin and licked a clump of icing off Dean's cheek when he sat down to clean himself up.

"Really?" he asked, looking up at her.

She scraped more icing off with her finger and licked her finger clean. "What? Why waste perfectly good icing?"

He knocked her hand away when she reached out to scrape more icing off his face, but couldn't help but smile at her. She had a tendency to get really annoying sometimes, but that was part of why he loved her so much. Even so part of him couldn't wait for their kids to grow up so she would have someone else in the house to irritate. Then again, with his luck all three of his children would take after their mother and the four of them would team up and drive him out of the house. At least he knew they would always be there when he came home.

 **A little short, but fun, right? I think my favorite part was Cas' reaction to the garter. How 'bout y'all? ~SG**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

He found John sitting alone at a table, watching Mary dance with Kit and Trevor.

"Never thought you'd get to see that, did you?" he asked as he sat down. "Mom playing with her grandkids."

John looked over at his son. "Is that icing in your hair?"

Dean smiled. "Probably. She got me pretty good."

John smiled too, which was something Dean wasn't sure he had ever seen. At least not a genuinely happy smile. "You know, your mom and I, we used to joke with Danny and Shari that you and Meredith would grow up and get married someday. You liked her a lot more than you did Jason for some reason."

"Maybe that's why he dumped the cake on us at that birthday party." Dean said.

"You remember that?"

"Vaguely. We found some old pictures in the attic. Everyone thought the bathtub shots were particularly adorable."

"You were cute kids." John agreed.

"Well, yeah, but did you really have to put us in the bathtub together?" Dean asked.

"Easiest way to get you both clean." John said. "And you can blame your mother for that, by the way. It was her idea."

"Who took the pictures?" Dean countered. "Because Mom and Aunt Shari were both in them."

"Probably Danny."

"Uh-huh." Dean didn't buy it. The look on his father's face betrayed the fact that he had been the one to take the now infamous bathtub pictures. Knowing that was weirder than seeing his dad smile, because there was no way he could imagine John Winchester standing in the bathroom doorway taking pictures of his son and the neighbors' daughter taking a bath. It just didn't mesh with the image he had of his father even though he knew John had probably been much more likely to do something like that before Mary had died. "Can I ask you something?"

"If you've got a question, Dean, I think now would be a good time to ask it." John said. "You'll probably never get another chance."

"Meredith's been real curious about her family tree lately." Dean said. "And it's got me curious about ours."

"There's not much to ours."

"I know, and Sam and I have learned a lot over the years, but there's still one person we don't really know anything about."

"You want to know about your grandmother." John guessed.

Dean nodded. "I get why you never told us about your dad. He didn't abandon you, by the way. It was kind of our fault actually. Mine and Sam's."

"I know." John said. "I talked to him earlier."

"How'd that go?"

"Better than I thought it would when I saw him. I gotta say I was pretty mad when I realized you'd invited him." John admitted. "Couldn't figure out why in the hell you'd want him here until he came over and explained everything. Said he tried to get back to me, but you and Sammy needed him more."

"How come you never talked about Grandma?" Dean asked, getting the conversation back on track.

"I guess with everything else going on family history didn't seem like the most important thing to teach you."

Dean looked at him expectantly.

"Her name was Mildred." John finally said. "You're named after her."

"How?" Dean asked. "Last time I checked my name wasn't Mildred."

John chuckled. "Her maiden name was Ross."

"Mildred Ross Winchester." Dean said, making a mental note to see if he could find anything on her later. "Did she ever remarry after Henry popped out of our closet?"

John looked sad. "Not that I know of. There was a man that was sweet on her and always treated us real well, but she was convinced that my father would come back some day. His name was Alan Baker. After your mom died I pushed mine away. For all I know she did marry Mr. Baker."

"Do you know if she's still alive?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll figure it out." John said. "If you do find her could you tell her I'm sorry?"

Dean smiled softly. "Yeah."

John's gaze drifted back to the dance floor where Mary was still having a ball with Trevor and Kit. "That's one cute kid you got there, Dean."

Dean grinned proudly. "Well, she does take after her father."

"Who takes after her father?" Meredith asked as she came over with a half eaten chocolate chip cookie.

She helped herself to Dean's lap, and he helped himself to the other half of her cookie. "Kit."

Meredith ignored the fact that he had just stolen her cookie. "Well, she did get at least one thing from me."

"What?" Dean asked.

"She's a daddy's girl." Meredith said, smiling. She turned her attention to John. "She refuses to go to sleep unless Dean sings to her, and her face just lights up whenever she sees him. She's not real crazy about the fact that he has to work either. Or do anything that takes him away from her for any length of time."

"Dad, I was wrong. Sure Kit takes after me in the looks department, but everything else she got from her mother." Dean said and looked up at his wife. "She's gonna be a handful when she gets older, isn't she?"

Meredith swatted him lightly on the back of the head for implying that she was a handful. "Don't pretend you aren't looking forward to it."

"Of course I am." he smiled, kissed her, and then turned his attention back to his father. "So, what was Grandma like?"

"Happy." John said. "She was always happy. Even after my father disappeared she didn't stay sad for long. Strong-willed, confident, loved to crack jokes."

"Sounds a lot like someone I know." Meredith commented.

"Who?" Dean asked.

"You, darling."

John smiled, happy that Dean had found someone that made him so happy. "And she loved music. Patsy Cline was her favorite. She flirted a lot too, after Dad was gone, but she always put me first. She did whatever she had to do to make sure I was taken care of."

Meredith slipped her arm around Dean's shoulders and smiled at him. "Sounds like you have a lot in common with your grandmother."

"Yeah." he said, hoping she was still alive so he could meet her. "I guess I do."

%%%

"What's up, bitches?" Charlie asked in her usual perky demeanor as she approached Sam a few tables away from where Dean and Meredith sat talking with John and Mary while John bounced Kit lightly on his knee, looking very much like a proud grandfather, and Trevor hovered nearby.

"Charlie!" Sam said, jumping as if she had startled him. He stood up and greeted her with an awkward hug. Sure she had participated in the whole awkward garter situation earlier, but he hadn't really talked to her yet.

"Can I ask why you've been avoiding me the whole time?" she asked as she sat down.

"I got you killed, Charlie." he replied, feeling a fresh wave of guilt wash over him. He still wasn't over what had happened, and he didn't think he ever would be.

"Oh." Charlie said, her cheerful expression fading. "That. Right. Well, that's a stupid reason, Sam."

He blinked at her. "What?"

Charlie smiled at him. "It wasn't your fault."

"But I—"

She held up a hand to silence him. "All you did was ask me to help you find a way to help Dean. I didn't have to say yes. You didn't force me. I don't blame you for my death, Sam."

"Dean does."

"Well, Dean can stuff it." she retorted, making Sam smile a little. "I mean, did he really think I wouldn't do anything in my power to help him? Bobby's right. You two are idjits."

Sam's smile grew bigger at the last comment. "But you love us, right?"

Charlie grinned and hugged him. "Of course I do. And Dean's cured of the Mark now, and has this awesome happy life, so I didn't die for nothing."

"Tell Dean that."

"I will." she promised. "And I get to be with my mom again, so I'm really happy."

"Your Heaven's with your mom?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yep. We read Tolkien and play video games. It's awesome."

Sam smiled, happy that she was happy, and relieved that she wasn't mad at him. "So, we couldn't talk you into coming back?"

"Maybe for a visit." she said, smiling and looking over to the table where Dean was reaching out to ruffle Trevor's hair. "I mean, someone's gotta teach your kids the joys of gaming, right?"

"Right."

"What's that like?" she asked. "Being a father. He seems like a great kid."

"He is." Sam confirmed. "It's definitely different. We're still figuring things out. You know, the co-parenting and the soulmate thing. Brooke's mom hates me, and I'm living with Gabriel because Brooke and I aren't ready to move in together yet. We're not even dating."

"You're living with Gabriel?" Charlie asked. She'd met him earlier and talked to him for a while. She liked him, but she had read the books and knew about the history he shared with the Winchesters.

Sam nodded. "Next door to Brooke's mom. It's actually not so bad. I mean, it's Gabriel and I've walked into saran wrap across a doorway a couple of times and woke up with my hand in a bucket of warm water, but at least he's not killing anyone. As far as pranks go, so far living with Dean was worse."

"He looks just like you." Charlie said, nodding at Trevor.

Sam smiled. "Yeah. He's pretty excited about that."

"And I don't think I've ever seen Dean smile so much."

"Mere's been really good for him." Sam said. "With the Mark, and you dying, and everything else there were times when I thought he wasn't going to be able to pull through. He was pretty serious there at the end about letting Death send him God knows where to keep from hurting anyone, and he came really close to killing me to keep me from trying to find a way to save him. He didn't think he could be saved. And then he came back here, back to Mere. And she somehow managed to do what no one else has ever been able to come close to doing."

"She saved him." Charlie said.

"Literally." Sam said. "She and Claire actually saved us from Rowena when we went to rescue Cas and Crowley. They killed her."

"Good." Charlie said emphatically. "It was kind of cool working with a powerful witch, but it would've been much cooler if she was more like Glinda. Cool chick, by the way."

"Glinda?"

Charlie nodded. "Yep."

"Charlie," Sam said suddenly. "I know you don't blame me, but...I'm so sorry."

Charlie's soft smile was full of love. "I know. Heaven's great and all, but I _really_ miss you guys."

"Talk to Cas about coming back." Sam told her. "We miss you too."

"Maybe for a visit." she repeated, knowing there was no reason for her to come back permanently. "And before I start crying I'm gonna go flirt with your not girlfriend if you don't mind."

Sam chuckled and smiled at her. "I don't think you'll get very far, but go ahead."

She gave him a big hug and went to go hang out with Brooke for a little while before she had a heart to heart with Dean.

About an hour later Gabriel announced that it was time for the last dance and good-byes, and the first notes of Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" began to play. Everyone gathered on the dance floor, and Dean couldn't help but be amused at Bobby dancing with Ellen and Cas dancing with Jody. For two minutes and thirty-eight seconds everyone was happy and having fun, and Dean couldn't resist grinning happily when Meredith threw her arms around his neck, smiling and laughing, and gave him a big hug when the song ended. He lifted her off her feet and gave her a kiss.

"Aren't you glad I talked you into a more traditional wedding and reception?" she asked.

"It wasn't so bad." he replied as Pamela copped a feel as she passed behind him. He looked over and smiled at her, not surprised when she winked at him, and then turned his attention back to his wife. "Really I'm just glad Cas came up with the idea to do this. There were some rough patches, but it wasn't a disaster."

Meredith smiled as he finally set her back on her feet. "No. It wasn't a disaster. It was wonderful."

He didn't see who handed her over, but Kit ended up back in his arms, and he kissed her and pulled Meredith in for a one-armed hug. He knew it might not last forever, but right now his life was perfect.

 **I want to be this happy someday! And I have no idea where I'm going with Grandma Millie except that I'd really like for Mildred from Into The Mystic to turn out to be Millie Winchester if only to see Dean's face when he realizes his grandmother was hitting on him. Not to mention the fact that Dee Wallace really looks like she could be their grandmother. Obviously she isn't old enough, but this is Supernatural we're talking about. And of course Dean's gonna be curious about his own family with Meredith digging into hers. Anyway, last chapter tomorrow. I'm working on the next story, but it's probably gonna be a little while because I haven't actually started writing it yet. And it will be more case driven. Still a lot of family drama, but there will be actual things to hunt and people to save. ~SG**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

"Did Charlie talk to you?" Sam asked after the wedding as everyone was walking back to the house. They had said goodbye to all of their dead family and friends, and the living ones were all cheerful and happy, chatting and laughing as they hiked the mile long trail between the barn and the house, the light from paper lanterns and Christmas lights adding their glow to that of the moon and stars above and illuminating the path just enough to see the way back.

Dean nodded. "Yep."

Sam didn't expect any elaboration. "Did she tell you that she's considering coming back? For a visit at least."

"Yep." Dean said.

Sam sighed. "And you're still mad at me for what happened, aren't you?"

Dean looked up at his brother. "Can you blame me, Sam?"

"Dean."

"I know, Sammy." Dean said. "You were trying to save me, you didn't force Charlie to help, I wouldn't have any of this right now if you hadn't done what you did. I get it. And I'm grateful. Really, Sam. I am. I've got a beautiful wife, and a kid, and everything I ever dreamed of, you're alive and working out your own little family situation. It's awesome. But Charlie's still dead."

"I get why you're mad at me, but why aren't you mad at Charlie too?" Sam asked. "She chose to be a part of it, and she chose to fight back when Eldon went after her instead of giving up."

"I never said I wasn't mad at her." Dean sounded weary. He was tired of talking about it. "I'm just more mad at you. You started it."

"Yeah, and if I hadn't then you'd be God knows where right now, Dean." Sam snapped angrily. "And I'd be dead too. Meredith would be miserable, and my son would still be fatherless. So, I get why you're mad and I'm okay with it, but you need to get over it. It sucks that Charlie died, and I've felt guilty about it every single day since it happened. I don't need you punishing me for it too."

"Hey." Meredith said, stepping between them before they could start throwing punches. "Knock it off. Both of you. The wedding may be over, but this is still supposed to be a happy day. Charlie died over a year ago, and you both need to get over it. It wasn't Sam's fault, so no one should still be feeling mad or guilty. Especially because Charlie's fine with it. She doesn't blame either of you. She's happy. Let it go."

She didn't give them a chance to argue with her before she picked up her skirt and ran ahead to catch up with Kate and the Fitzgeralds.

"Your wife just yelled at me." Sam said.

"Yeah." Dean said. "She does that."

"And she's right." Brooke added, taking Meredith's place between the brothers. "You two really do need to stop holding onto things so hard. At least the bad things. You may be superheros, but you're still only human."

Dean looked at his brother over Brooke's head. "This isn't gonna work out so well for us is it?"

"Nope." Sam said. "They're gonna force us to be happy, healthy, and well-adjusted."

"Well, how are we supposed to be happy if you two are miserable?" Brooke asked.

Dean draped his arm around her shoulders. "Now, how can we be miserable with you lovely little rays of sunshine around?"

Brooke smiled up at him. "Exactly."

She kissed his cheek and ran off.

Dean grinned. "I know you don't wanna hear this, but you really do need to marry that girl, Sammy."

"Dean."

"I know, I know." Dean said. "Weird situation, taking it slow. I get it. I'm just putting my two cents in. Besides, you marry Brooke you don't have to live with Gabriel anymore."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

%%%

"Congratulations, Dean." Donna said as she hugged him goodbye when everyone got back to the house.

Dean smiled. She was a bit too continuously perky, but she was a good friend, and she was definitely one tough cookie. When he'd first met her he hadn't thought he'd ever run into her again. Then he had, and he hadn't thought he would like her so much simply because she was practically made out of sunshine and sugar. But he did, and he was glad she'd been able to make it to the wedding. "Thanks for comin', Donna. It's good to see you again."

Donna smiled, flashing those dimples of hers, and swatted his arm gently. "Hey. You guys saved my life, and then you showed me how to save other people's lives. The least I can do is show up to your wedding. Besides, I think the last thing I ever need is another sheriff's convention."

"You got that right." Jody said as she joined them. "How'd you get outta that, by the way? I think the only reason I still have a job right now is because no one else wants it."

"Mayor of Stillwater's a real family oriented kind of guy." Donna said. "Or at least that's how he wants to look anyway. I happen to know for a fact he's got a lady friend over in Hibbing. I just told him a little white lie that my brother was getting married, and that it might not look so good for Mr. Family Man to keep the sheriff from going to her own brother's wedding. Especially when he's spending so much time over in Hibbing while Mrs. Mayor's home with the kids."

Dean and Jody were both stunned.

"You blackmailed your mayor into letting you come out here?" Jody asked, her eyes practically bugging out of her head she was so surprised. "Wow. I knew you could swing a mean machete, but I never expected that move."

Donna shrugged. "I feel a little guilty about it, but not too much. I really did need some time off, and I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Best wedding I've ever been to. Including my own."

"And we've still got Thanksgiving." Dean reminded her. "You're sticking around for the turkey, right?"

"Oh, you betcha." Donna said enthusiastically. "Your wife sure can cook."

Dean grinned. "Yes, she can."

"Did I hear that someone almost lost a job over this wedding?" Shelly asked as she walked over with a very worn out seven-year-old on her hip.

Jody raised her hand. "That would be me."

Shelly smiled and adjusted Kaylie. "Well, if that ever happens you can come on out here and Travis'll put you to work. Same for you, Donna. We're always short a few hands around here. I keep telling Dean he should consider it, but he won't."

"Sorry, Shell." he said. "My plate's full. But I wouldn't mind if Donna or Jody decided to take Travis up on your offer."

"I love you guys," Jody said. "But I think small doses is best. And I'm pretty sure Donna's job is safe as long as the mayor's still stepping out."

Shelly easily put the pieces together. "You're blackmailing your mayor?"

Donna shrugged. "I know. It's surprising, but I didn't have much choice. Apparently the family only comes first if family's actually in town. I'm a single woman with no kids, and my parents retired and moved down to Florida, so he thinks he can work me like a horse while he has an affair with a girl half his age? I don't think so, Buster. I love my job, but I have a life too ya know."

Dean wrapped his arms around her and gave her a big hug. "Well, you're welcome here anytime, Sheriff. And if you ever need a real vacation we've got a house right on the beach in Naples."

"Oh, that sounds nice." Donna said.

It did sound nice, but Dean wasn't sure they'd be able to keep it with three more babies on the way and the older kids getting so close to going off to college. Dylan would probably end up hunting, but it was pretty obvious that Rowan wanted to go to a good school. She wanted to be a doctor, and she had the grades and everything else to get in. It was just the money that would be a problem. And, of course, she was his niece and not his daughter, so it wasn't really up to him to put her through school, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't help out if she needed it.

"We'd better get back to the hotel." Jody said to Donna. "I don't know about you and the girls, but I'm wiped out."

"Oh, me too." Donna said. "I think I'll just sleep all day tomorrow."

Dean hugged them both and turned around to say goodnight to Shelly and Kaylie, but he was attacked by Claire and Alex instead. Both of them clearly still had energy left, and he gave them a warning to behave as he hugged them and watched them run off to catch up with Jody and Donna.

"You really are good at that." Shelly said, smiling.

"What?"

"Being a dad." she clarified. "Kit's gonna turn out just fine."

"She'd better."

He said goodnight to the Archers, and Krissy headed across the street with the Mitchells while Garth and his little family piled into their rented car and headed back to the hotel. Brooke and Meredith took the kids inside to get them ready for bed, and Dean found himself standing in the glow of the porch light with Sam and Mrs. Tran.

"Thank you for inviting me, Dean." she said. "I had a wonderful time."

"I'm glad you came." he replied with a smile. "I didn't think you would."

"I almost didn't." she admitted. "But I couldn't resist the chance to see Kevin again, and I figured it was about time to put the past behind us. I was angry at you boys for along time, but I know it's not really your fault that Kevin's gone."

"Yeah, but if we hadn't—" Dean started to argue, still feeling guilty over what had happened to Kevin just like Sam still felt guilty over Charlie.

Mrs. Tran held up a hand to stop him. "Did you make my son a prophet?"

"No ma'am." Dean said.

"Then it wasn't your fault." she said. "I know neither of you ever intended for him to get hurt, and I know he helped you do good in the world. I'm proud of him for that. And I'm proud of you too. Both of you."

Neither Winchester was really sure how to react to that. They knew they'd done good, or at least tried to do good, in the world, but there had been so much bad as well. Good people were dead because of them. _Kids_ were dead because of them. And now they had both found themselves in a completely new world with families of their own and they were happy, but neither of them felt they truly deserved it. And they certainly didn't feel like they deserved Mrs. Tran's pride or forgiveness. Not after what Crowley had done to her, and especially since her son had been killed on their watch.

She seemed to sense this when they both remained silent, and smiled softly. "Sam, Dean, please stop kicking yourselves for things you had no control over. It's not your fault. None of it is your fault."

"She's right." Meredith said, coming back out onto the porch with Kit all bathed and ready for bed.

"I feel like we've heard that a lot tonight." Sam said. "That it's not our fault, and we should get over it."

"Maybe you should listen to your friends then." Mrs. Tran said.

Meredith smiled at them. "Trust me. I know it's not easy to let that stuff go, but I know you'll both feel a lot better if you do. At least try."

Both brothers nodded, silently agreeing to try to move on and stop hating themselves for the bad things that had happened in their lives. Deep down they knew everyone else was right.

"I think Kit's ready for her song." Meredith said, drawing Dean's attention to the baby who was already nodding off on her shoulder. She looked up at Sam. "And Trevor wants to say goodnight to both of you."

"We'll be in in a minute." Sam said.

"Don't be too long." Meredith warned, kissing Dean's cheek. She turned and gave Mrs. Tran a hug. "I'm so glad I finally got a chance to meet you, Mrs. Tran. You're welcome to come back anytime. I know Dean would love it."

Mrs. Tran smiled and scratched lightly at Kit's back. "I think I will just so I can see this little nugget again. She really is a beautiful baby."

Dean and Meredith both smiled proudly as the baby yawned.

"We don't exactly have an abundance of grandmothers around here." Dean said. "The job's yours if you want it."

"I'll take it."

"That goes for Trevor too." Sam said. "He's got Brooke's mom, but she doesn't like me. At all."

"We'll I'll just have to go and have a talk with her." Mrs. Tran said. "See if I can't make her understand how lucky she is to have you in the family."

"It's not like she's got much of a choice." Dean commented. "But, uh, it is getting late."

They said their goodbyes, and Mrs. Tran was at the bottom of the steps, on her way to Jake and Kim's, when she froze. "Sam, Dean? You've got another visitor."

They all looked toward the street where a man stood in the middle of the road, unable to come any closer because of the iron devil's trap buried under the yard.

"Crowley." Dean growled. "Mere, take Kit inside."

"He can't get to us, Dean." she reminded him.

"I don't care." he shot back. "Take Kit inside."

Once he knew his wife and daughter were safely inside he stalked across the yard, Sam and Mrs. Tran close on his heels.

"What the hell are you doing here, Crowley?" he demanded.

Crowley was perfectly calm. He rolled his eyes. "Calm down, Squirrel. I didn't come to kill anyone. I simply wanted to congratulate you on your nuptials. I may be the King of Hell, but I still have manners. See? I even brought a gift."

Dean eyed the package warily.

"It's not a bomb, Squirrel." Crowley said. "I know you don't trust me, but what would I stand to gain by blowing you up on your wedding night? You should know me well enough by now to know that I don't do anything unless it benefits me, and you and Moose here have actually proven to be quite useful over the years. I'm not going to kill you, and I value my life so I know better than to go after your family. Hello, by the way, Mrs. Tran. So nice to see you again."

"Don't you have someone else to annoy?" Dean asked as his brother seethed beside him, Mrs. Tran tucked safely behind them.

Crowley sighed, exasperated. "Oh, alright, fine. Here."

Dean took the box Crowley shoved at him. "What is it?"

"Open the bloody thing and find out." Crowley said, and disappeared.

"It's okay, Mrs. Tran." Sam said when she didn't release the vice-like grip she had on his arm. "Dean put in iron devil's traps around both houses. You'll be safe inside. Come on. I'll walk you to the door."

"Just when I thought I'd gotten over what he did to me." Mrs. Tran said as Sam lead her toward Jake and Kim's front door.

"He knows better than to mess with you again, Mrs. Tran." Sam said.

He got her safely inside and then headed back across the street to his brother's house, still finding it weird that his brother owned a house.

"Technically it's Mere's house." Dean said when Sam made the comment to his brother after the kids were both tucked in for the night. "My name's no where on it."

"Yeah, but it's still your house." Sam said. "Right Mere?"

"Definitely." she agreed, eyeing the package Dean had set on the counter. "What's that?"

"Correction." Dean said. "It's my home, not my house. There's a difference. And that," he said pointing at the package. "Is a wedding present from the King of Hell."

Meredith stared at him as Brooke joined them in the kitchen. "A wedding present from...Crowley?"

"Is it a severed head?" Brooke asked as she replied to a text from her brother. "Nate says hi."

"Hi Nate." Sam, Dean, and Meredith all chorused.

"Severed heads aren't Crowley's style." Dean said. "It's probably a toaster or something."

"Open it and find out." Meredith said.

"You think he wrapped it himself?" Dean asked, gesturing to the fancy wrapping before tearing it off. "Well, I'll be damned."

"What?" Meredith asked.

Dean held up the box so the others could see it. "It's a toaster."

"So the King of Hell's also the King of cliches?" Brooke asked.

"Apparently." Meredith said. "We already have a toaster that works just fine, so make sure that's not cursed or something and toss it in the Goodwill pile."

"If it is cursed we can just give it to Krista." Dean said. "I swear if that woman doesn't leave me alone."

"We don't want to kill her, Dean." Meredith reminded him. "And don't forget that we actually _like_ the rest of the family."

"True. But still. She needs to back off. Last time she brought that damn car in she grabbed my ass."

Meredith glared at the thought and took a deep breath. "If she keeps it up I'll just have to have a little talk with her."

Dean grinned. "Make sure you mess up that perfect hair of hers."

"You have no idea how badly I want to just...ah!" Meredith said, illustrating with her hands how she would like to ruin Krista's ever perfect hairdo. "Ever since we were kids. I can't believe Jake ever dated her."

"Jake dated Krista?" Dean asked, shocked.

Sam and Brooke weren't familiar with Krista Miller, so they were both a little lost.

Meredith nodded. "For about a month in high school. Not his finest hour."

"I'll say." Dean said. "Man, I'm gonna give him so much crap about that. Who else's dating history don't I know about?"

Meredith climbed onto a stool and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Well, you know that Travis and I dated."

Dean nodded. "You dated Jake in high school too, didn't you?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it dating."

"Oh." Dean said. "So that's what you mean when you talk about your wild days."

"There were a lot of piercings, a lot of pot, and a lot of sex." Meredith explained. "Travis and I were the worst. Carrie and Shelly were the good girls, Jason couldn't be too wild because he had to try to keep me and Kim in line, Kim was depressed, bulimic, and just as obsessed with looking perfect as Krista was, Krista was Krista, and Jake and Shawn were kind of in between the good and the bad."

"The sex I believe, but I'm not sure you'll ever convince me that you smoked pot." Dean said. "And what piercings? I think I'd know if you had any piercings. You've got some holes in your ears, but..."

"Piercings close up, Dean." Sam pointed out. "Brooke used to have her belly button pierced."

"And my nose." she added. "But how do you know I don't still have my belly button pierced. You haven't exactly seen my belly button recently."

"And you don't exactly wear baggy clothes." Sam shot back.

"Aw. How cute. They're flirting." Dean teased, and looked back at his wife. "But seriously. What piercings? Other than the ones in your ears."

"Yes, I still have all my ear piercings." Meredith confirmed.

"Yeah, but what else did you have?" Dean pushed, looking excited.

Meredith smiled in amusement at his excitement. "Belly button, nose, tongue."

"My best friend in middle school tried to convince me to get my tongue pierced." Brooke said. "By the time I got to high school I might've done it, but I didn't think I could hide it from my mother."

"I didn't have to worry about that." Meredith said. "And one of my friends tried to convince me to get something else pierced, but there's no way I was going there."

Brooke cringed. "Oh, no way. Ouch."

"I never understood why anyone would want that pierced anyway." Meredith agreed.

"Want what pierced?" Dean asked, totally lost.

"Think Dean." Brooke said.

It took him a minute, but he finally figured it out. "Oh. That. I've met a few women that had...that, but I never understood why they would want it. Actually I never understood why you would pierce anything no one's gonna see. Isn't the point of decorations so people can see them?"

"And how many people see your tattoo?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, but that's not a decoration. It's self defense."

"Do you still have your belly button pierced?" Sam asked Brooke, obviously curious.

Brooke smiled, but didn't answer.

"Isn't it hard to eat with your tongue pierced?" Dean asked.

"It was a little tricky." Meredith admitted. "It got really annoying after about a month. I kept getting it caught between my teeth, and I was afraid I was gonna end up tearing my tongue off some day. So I let it close up. But if we're all done talking about piercings, I think I'm about ready for bed."

"Yeah, I bet you are." Dean said, smirking.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Down boy."

"Yeah, Dean." Sam said. "Keep it in your pants until you're in your own room."

"Good night, Sammy." Dean said pointedly.

"And on that note..." Sam said. "Come on, Brooke."

They said their good nights and Sam and Brooke headed upstairs, leaving the newlyweds alone.

"What a day." Dean said as he shut the bedroom door behind him, having decided he could worry about Crowley's toaster tomorrow. "How are you doing after, you know, everything?"

Meredith sat down on the bed and sighed. "Okay, I guess. I haven't really had much time to think about, you know, everything. I can't believe I spent so much time hating my mom."

"You didn't know about the things she went through, Mere." Dean said, sitting down beside her and putting his arm around her. "You keep telling me that I can't blame myself for Kevin and everything else, so why should you blame yourself for the way you felt about your mom. You were just going off what you knew."

She laid her head on his shoulder. "I know, but...I just wish she had told us sooner."

"Aren't you the one that said you wouldn't want to change anything?"

She nodded. "Yeah. And I wouldn't, but still."

He gave her a little squeeze and kissed her head. "Well, let's not worry about any of that tonight. We'll figure out what to do about finding your brother and sisters later."

"What about the babies?" she asked. "Still thinking about selling the Impala?"

"No." Dean said firmly. "Never."

"Good. You were scaring me there for a minute."

"Sorry." he apologized. "We do need to do something about the car situation though."

Meredith patted his knee. "We'll figure it out."

"We always do."

 **And that, my friends, is the end. For now. I know some of you are probably going to complain about the fact that I didn't include interactions with Bobby, Kevin, Jo, Ellen, and probably a few others, but it didn't work out. I wanted to include them as more than just guests in the background, and I tried to, but those scenes just felt like I stuck them in just to have somewhere to put them and messed up the flow of the story. And I didn't really know what to do with them. There wasn't really anything that needed resolving with those particular characters, and that's really what this story was all about. But who knows. Maybe I'll be able to fit in a flashback somewhere. But that's it for now. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the next one sooner rather than later, but I won't make any promises. We all know how Meredith feels about promises, and I don't want to upset my darling. ~SG**


End file.
